Friday, June 5, 2015

Bonehead Blog Hop


Face your fears! Nope, not in writing, but in some boneheaded thing you said or did and share it with others who have no problem sharing our faux pas. It is  always on the 5th day of the month and is hosted by Diana Wilder at Diana Wilder...About myself, By Myself and Cherdo at Cherdo by the Flipside.

So this was "Let's piss of your boss" month. My boss is as exciting as watching paint dry. He actually reminds me of the Warner Bros cartoon of the frog that drives everyone he meets crazy. When he is alone with one said person, the frog sings and dances but as soon as someone else may see him, the frog stops and just lets out one long "ribbbiiiitttt). I say "Good morning" and his response is ...."Yuuuup".

I am a Credit Counsellor and we deal daily with clients that often must be sent to a trustee for bankruptcy or a Consumer Proposal. The trustees make money and so for years, they have taken us out for dinners. This has been going on for as long as I have worked there which is 24 years. Well, our boss told us in a meeting that this one trustee has not been sending the same amount of people to us as we have to them. They also lumped us in with those dreadful debt settlement places and bad mouthed us on their website. He informed us we are no longer dealing with that one trustee.

Now, in the past our boss did not like us going out for dinners but as long as it was after hours he was, begrudgingly, fine with it.  Right after the meeting, my fellow counsellor and I get an e-mail from the trustee wanting to go to dinner. Can you hear the resounding thud! The other counsellor and I decided to think about what to say and how to state we can't go out for dinner any more.

What was this blond bimbette to do...oh yes-be too honest that's what and have her brains up her ass! I wrote a very nice e-mail stating we are no longer able to go for dinners due to the issues mentioned above. Can you hear that certain brown smelly stuff hit the fan?

Yup they called my boss and then the next day, the one trustee came to the office to speak to our boss who then thanked me for opening my mouth and placing him under the bus (my brother put it like this). I apologised to my boss realizing that I should have just sent the e-mail to him without responding. Oh wait! That would have been the intelligent thing to do but I wanted to get into some method acting and channel Chrissy from Three's Company so I sent the %$#! e-mail. The other counsellor told me not to feel so bad because I showed it to her before I sent it and she thought it was fine since we always dealt with the dinners before.

Regardless, I also had my performance appraisal and he listed that I was too blunt but being German I can't help it. I wasn't going to correct him and say I am Canadian of German descent. He also looked right at me when saying that if the other counsellor becomes manager here after he goes and keeps her files there is no reason to have another counsellor so that made me feel rather ill. I think I put a big bull's eye on my butt. So that is my bone head move for the month.


29 comments:

  1. Oh no - hope this gets sorted out!

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  2. Hi, Birgit! Your story resonates with me because, in my own career, I often found myself in that same kind of position. I worked as head of production at a television station and had a boss who talked out of both sides of his mouth. When he presided over department head meetings he would set policies and order us to follow them. There were times when I attempted to carry out his orders, butted heads with account reps or clients and wound up getting a good scolding from my boss who accused me of being inflexible. Hey, the rules is the rules, and I didn't make them up - you did, boss man!

    Thank you, dear friend BB, and have a great weekend!

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    1. It is tough to know what he wants but I tend to step on his toes

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  3. Damn, that sucks. Hopefully no one shouts the bullseye on your butt though, that could sting lol The boss said it though, so his own fault. You just repeated it.

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  4. Sheesh, what a 'reward' for doing the right thing - that sucks!

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  5. Ouch!! Like Shady, I've been in situations where a boss lays down the law but doesn't have the chutzpah to follow them personally. That stinks! The worst part is that same boss will want you to handle things personally and not bring every little thing to him, right? So, you have management guidance...a rule...you're an adult...and if you act within the rule, that's wrong? That's a bad manager. Part of his new stance should have included, "If you should get an invitation to dinner, do this..."

    I still love ya! Thanks for participating, but I say your boss is a bonehead.

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    1. You guessed him right to the tee! He does not like it when he feels someone stepped on his toes and I have a habit.

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  6. Well, you did force the boss to stand by his words.

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    1. Thanks Alex...he likes to lurk in shadows

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  7. This goes beyond bonehead for me.

    Your boss is a piece of work. He takes an issue with the trustee and then when his decision comes back and bites him in the ass. To be fair, it was bound to happen, because that trustee was going to wonder why everyone at your office stopped sending business his way, and who was he going to ask? You? Or the other counselor, no? Or he might have gone straight to your boss, in which case he'd have been in the same uncomfortable position (knees on the floor, butt in the air). Sounds like if the latter happened, he'd have backpedaled, so he's pissed because you made him stand behind his grand pronouncement. What a jerk!

    And then to top it off he threatened your job during your performance review, right? That sounded like a threat to me. Have you considered working somewhere else for someone who isn't a jackass?

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    1. Thank you so much. I just felt like a bonehead but I will be staying because I love the job I do. He plans to retire in 2 years so I have all the patience in the world. Let's go from there but thank you

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  8. BIRGIT ~

    >>... but I wanted to get into some method acting and channel Chrissy from Three's Company so I sent the %$#! e-mail.

    Ha!-Ha! That made me Laugh-Out-Loud. Well, if you're going to act "blonde", you might as well go straight to the top and be inspired by the "blondest". [;-)}

    Seems to me, your boss is kinda really blowing this thing all out of proportion.

    Also, it suddenly occurs to me that I may have been often misinformed: So... honesty really ISN'T the 'Best Policy'? (No wonder so many people dislike me. I'm probably too honest for my own good.)

    ~ D-FensDogG
    'Loyal American Underground'

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    1. Yes I am honest and blunt. I am what I am but sometimes the blond gets the better of me. I need to know more about being crafty which is hard for me

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  9. I'm so sorry. He kind of put you in a difficult position. There's nothing wrong with being straightforward and telling people what's going on. But then again, there is. Sigh. I hope it all works out.

    Once upon a time I heard a great way of getting rid of someone. Picture them happy someplace else. You could try it.

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    1. I will try this. It just was boneheaded of me but thank you so much

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  10. Oh no! Hard place to be. I hope it all works out and your job will not be in jeopardy.

    Betty

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    1. I hope not either but I am the longest one there. The next is 7 years later so let's hope that counts for something

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  11. It doesn't sound bonehead to me. I'd probably do the same thing. If it was so important to the boss, he should've informed the trustees long time ago that taking counselors to dinner was not appropriate.

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    1. He never liked it that we went out with them but we had already been doing this for over 13 years by the time he came on board. he just said to make sure it is done on our own time

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  12. oh dear that must be aweful !! but I loved your humour even in these situation :)

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    1. It was not fun but I hope it just goes quietly away like a rash

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  13. Ugh. This sounds like it has been stressful- but I think you did what most of us would do. Your boss did inform you that you couldn't go to dinner with the trustee- so I am not sure what you were supposed to say. Hope everything is smoothed over now. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. I think it is but I hope my boss does not keep it in his memory box

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  14. Honest, blunt and bloody fearless! We need more women like you, Birgit! You're my hero! Hope the dust settles soon.
    hugs Asha

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    1. oh my goodness-this just put tears in my eyes. Thank you so much Asha. I have said my peace and apologies and that stops now. Will he forget? Nope! I won't let him do any more negative crap regarding this so let's hope all goes well

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  15. I could see this unfolding. If I were keeping score it wou be Birgitta 1 to boss 0 :)

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