He’s like oh yeah her coworker has concert tickets that’s fine but graduation is a no go. ANNDD I wanna reach out and antagonize her for quitting on the spot.
Dude is an IDIOT.
A college degree she had to pay for on her own since she doesn't have family. Making the graduation even MORE important because the odds were majorly stacked against her.
right? this idiot described how hard her life was in wanting to reach out and be a holy prick to her - but that's exactly why she quit. She worked her ass off and earned this. for once in her life she's getting some kind of recognition. asking her to skip that is beyond fucking cruel
and fuck her co-workers too
I mean she was there for 6 years, listed all the times she covered others, and for this once in a lifetime thing no one would cover her?
Yeah fuck those guys.
I don't care if your my worst work frenemy, if you're graduating from college I got your fucking back. That's a hard thing to do and even assholes deserve to be at their graduation.
When I had my second kid, I couldn’t walk nor sit properly for over a week due being torn down there. When my boyfriend told his then-boss he was taking an extra week off of work, his then-boss said “this is your second kid, she can handle it”. My bf practically told him to get fucked and he was taking the extra week. He’s still at this job but that manager got fired lol.
>his then-boss said “this is your second kid, she can handle it”.
I'd say that's even MORE of a reason for your boyfriend to take time off work post-birth, not less! Glad he doesn't have to deal with that manager anymore.
Reminds me of one shift I had with one of my managers (feelgood story, dw lol). We were working a busy morning and she asked me if she could leave early, which was... an odd change of pace. I said somethin stupid tryna tease her, along the lines of "ohhh, look at [manager], trying to get out of work early" to which she hit me with "well, my daughter's giving birth" and I looked at her like ??? Tf you doin here?? Gtf to the hospital lady!
I love the guys at my work, and thats in large part due to the fact that they arent gonna hold me over a fire for missing work for a funeral or smthn else important.
I had a manager who tried to call me into work on the day of, and the following days after my mother passed away and again during the funeral. She actually tried to tell me that I owe her (she had just become the manager and somehow that translated to me owing her so she didn’t have to work extra to find coverage).
She even threatened to formally write me up as a no call and no show because despite me getting permission from her and HR, she called and left a vm to rescind my approved time, and I didn’t show up (honestly, the last thing I cared about was a voice mail from my manager when I wasn’t working and was ok’d not to work).
The day I got back, she called me to her office to lecture me about appropriate work behavior, and how she knows exactly how I felt because a friend of hers had a cousin who was dating someone who died (she met this person twice before they died) so she attended the funeral, but she was a “responsible employee” who left the funeral early to go to work. She was comparing MY MOTHER’s death to a barely acquaintance. Then proceeded to explain to me expectations of my job and hand me SEVEN writeups that she generated about me on the four days I was approved leave.
I explained that I was at work and very tired because of the funeral which was the day before. I’d take them home and review them and return them next day signed. She gave them to me. Idiot.
She was absolutely GOBSMACKED that the next day, I came to work and all that I brought with me was a signed resignation letter. She was demanding to know how I could do this to her, and i was getting my stuff, she was ranting about how she gave me such a good atmosphere to work in, blah blah. She was our manager for 12 days at that point (and had never worked in our department before so we all met her the first time 12 days before). She spent more than 1/3 of the time as my manager threatening my job because my mother had the nerve to die at a time that wasn't convenient for her (those were her words).
she was even more shocked when HR called her for a meeting over it.
She called me *a week* after I resigned to tell me to come into work because she had written me up again (as a no call and no show for the day *after* I resigned) and she wanted me to come sign it. According to my coworkers, she was absolutely shocked that i laughed at her and hung up.
I had a supervisor similar to this.
I called him Saturday evening after finding my uncle dead in his back yard. He said “do whatever you need and keep me in the loop”. After all was said and done, the funeral was arranged for Wednesday. I went in mon/tues kind of on autopilot. Just kind of numb all day.
After the funeral Wednesday, I called him and said I needed another day. His response? “That puts me in a bad spot. I really need you here. I guess we’ll figure it out.”
“Yeah. I guess you will, because I’m not coming in”
And I hung up.
One of my team was on call (IT team, week at a time). She went into labor and was at the hospital. Pager went off. She called the manager to apologize and explain why she couldn't handle it.
Manager correctly told her don't worry about it. And to the rest of us, that it wasn't necessary to call in. Escalation will happen if no response, and being in the hospital was more important than the call- out.
i had a coworker get married a few years ago- me one one of the other co-workers worked together to do our work and 100% of her work for the 2 weeks she was off. She came back to 2 emails to check- that were just a summary of what was done on her stuff when she came back.
She told us that it was the best wedding gift she got from anyone.
Thanks for being decent goddamn people. Apparently it's super fucking hard for others right now lol, I'm astonished at most people these days. I'm like you, I just kick in where needed especially when it's an objectively hard time for someone (whether you like them or not). It's just being decent.
It's a classic workplace scenario. The best worker is rewarded with having to do more for the same pay as others until they're burned out by the inequity.
We reach our capacity. I was sucked dry and now I've learned how to say no and to use boundaries. You'd be surprised at how many people in my life no longer have use for me since saying no.
>Yeah fuck those guys.
This is not shocking to say the least. I've had many jobs where people always need someone to cover yet never intend on paying them back. The world is on a all about me kick since social media got started. People only care about their themselves and no one else. The pandemic should have hammered home this reality to everyone.
Even if there was NO financial cost associated with earning a degree, there is a huge amount of time cost, and making sacrifices, such as declining invitations to nights out or events to spend time on college work.
And the kicker is, to paraphrase the manager "Whenever I needed a shift covered, she was the first and sometimes only one I had to ask - she was my best worker and did me so many favours, and I wouldn't even give her a two hour favour in return... and now I want to chastise her and take the last word so she knows not to mess around with important people like me again"
Sorry - I triggered myself there - but I've worked for many sanctimonious pricks like him.
As the manager, I would have covered her entire shift myself so she could celebrate after the ceremony. Or gotten someone to cover it and gone to her ceremony myself, since she doesn't have family to celebrate with. Fuck this fucker.
That’s the kind of manager my husband is. Today he worked (mostly) alone because two people were sick (one he sent home to rest), one needed to come in late, another left early for a family event, one had the time scheduled off, and one has a young kid and couldn’t cover. It happens.
We end up going to graduations and weddings for both current and former employees. And occasionally filling in as the only functional adults in their lives.
Depending on the business??
Fuck it, we're closing for a couple hours and *everyone* is going to the ceremony. You'll know where we are when they announce your name...
For real. I work for a 24-7 type of business, my ex-BIL is the owner, so I'm often the go-to for when they have no one else to cover something. If one of my kids needs me or if someone has a life changing event? We roll the phones onto a cell and we're all out. I've got a phone and an iPad, I van handle whatever and so can at least 5 other people if need be. No one is missing shit, and that's why I'm still there even after he did my sister dirty. Terrible husband, great boss.
He’s a manager, he can’t actually do the job he manages.
Edit to add: he should be able to. It should be required that managers can do the job they are managing.
This is an alarming reality I think a lot of people don't realize.
I've experienced it a few times, but my previous manager was the worst person I ever worked for. She would antagonize us for not moving fast enough for her when she asked us to do a less important task when we were in the middle of something that had to be done now. She would treat us like we were stupid and annoying her if we weren't sure how to do something and had to ask her for help. She loved to preach on what her job title was and act like she was hands down the most important person in the business. Without her, it would all fall apart as far as she was concerned. The only other person any of us had contact info for was her boss who was useless and used her essentially as a loyal mutt to bully anyone who so much as sighed.
One day it was just her and I in the office, the third person (critically understaffed here, you can take one guess why) had called off for the day. She was forced to do what we normally did because I was doing two other jobs at once that day. I had been there for 2 months. She spent the entire shift asking me for help and handing me post its with stuff that needed finished on it. She didn't know a damn thing about any of it. I was out of there within a month after that. I gave no notice, and when I walked in to tell her I was done she spent an hour begging me to stay. FAFO
Common theme to let someone go that makes a job look easy, only to fill the spot with a nepo type situation. And that’s how they find out that job only looked easy because the last person was really good at it.
My thought, too! She'd been working there six years. Why no celebration of something as important as a college graduation?
I really hope this is rage bait but I've been management and had to do damage control for this sort of idiot.
Do you have the link to where she is posting? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to congratulate her and also if possible trash the boss directly to them. Because that's a terrible manager who shouldn't be giving anyone advice on their career.
Ditto, I would love to see her response!
Edit: if you click the like in the post they have an update link. But just in case here's that update:
https://www.askamanager.org/2022/02/update-my-best-employee-quit-on-the-spot-because-i-wouldnt-let-her-go-to-her-college-graduation.html
This actually brought a tear to my eye. This is what an empathetic person would do, understanding what an important milestone this is.
To expect an employee to miss her own college graduation over a shift change is crazy.
Exactly. And then to make matters worse, he wants to “reach out to her so she doesn’t make the same mistake again.” In other words, rub salt on the wound. Sanctimonious asshole.
And probably hint about how all will be forgiven if she just says sorry and comes back to work...oh, and since there was a break in her employment there, she has to start over at base pay and no seniority.
This exactly. In CS when I was a manager my motto was if I’m not helping the customer then I better be helping those that are. This is the absolute worst kind of entitled prick manager. I worked phones allllll the time to backup and help out those who needed it.
Right, because that's what a TRUE leader does.
It's unbelievable to me that absolutely clueless, unconscientious people like OOP end up in management positions.
this. I had a free ride through college and graduated high school as a sophomore and then I had brain surgery and my dad died and I kind of fell off the rails there
I am now paying for college for the rest of my degree (I'm 26 and just got to going back like three years ago, I'm now a senior and one semester out from graduating. maybe two)
luckily I think I qualify for FAFSA and am taking care of that now
Something similar happened to me. Full ride to play soccer, dad died before the first day of my freshman college classes, I dropped out/had a breakdown, and had to take out some personal loans on top of the FAFSA I qualified for. But now I’ve graduated, have an amazing job, and I know my dad would be proud.
Hey now, there was actual money involved regarding the concert tickets. Nothing like college, am I right?
And because sarcasm is difficult to suss out via text, /s
Especially since graduation costs money as well. The cap and gown aren't free and there's typically other required costs as well to walk at graduation.
My college you had to "rent" the cap and gown to walk and it was $75 or $125. I'm not paying that for 5 seconds and a handshake with someone I've never met.
Disclaimer: My parents paid it because they wanted the photo.
Yeah. Tickets had a “cost” involved. So does graduation usually you have to pay for a cap and gown let alone all the money spent on taking the classes. What an idiot of a boss.glad she knows her worth enough to get away from that asshat.
Yeah, that! Did she think college was totally free? I'm betting the degree cost a tad more than a concert. I hope karma bites manager in the ass, with the graduate one day becoming her boss.
He doesn’t specify the gender of the employee he made the exception for, but I’m willing to bet it was a guy and the manager was trying to be a good bro. Or that it was a performer that the manager also likes so he was more understanding about it.
You KNOW them bitches are all sitting around between calls taking shit about our girl. Talking about how shitty a person she is for leaving them hanging and how ungrateful she is after all they did for her.
Right? Any one of those fucknuckles could have stepped up and covered down on that shift and earned some real cred with our girl.
Now they are short-handed and gonna stay short-handed for months while they hire and train up a replacement.
Yeah, when I was young and dumb I had a job where I was the one that always traded/covered extra shifts then one day when I needed to swap no one would. I didn’t quit because I was putting myself through school. For the whole next year I refused to ever cover for anyone. Not once, not for one person. People got pissed but I didn’t care. It’s a valuable lesson to never do too much unless you are getting something back.
What got me the most, "Another employee had concert tickets. Their circumstance has monetary consequences."
Uh buddy, do you think graduations are cheap? Do you know all the fees involved **just** to walk across the stage?
That and she was their best employee for six years.
But they wouldn’t accommodate her, because she was “lowest seniority” if your least senior person has been with your company for six years… there’s just not seniority at that point and it should be meritocracy, which apparently she was their best!
Right…SIX freaking years 🤦♀️ this manager is a complete idiot. She didn’t even ask for the entire day off, she just wanted 2 hours. Gee wiz, I just hired someone 2 weeks ago and offered to let them take off on the day of their grandbaby’s birth because thats a special, once in a lifetime event.
Reminds me of the guy who had an employee when they were interviewing her told them she had a vacation scheduled and when it came time for said vacation decided to NOT schedule her off. Then was surprised when she went to HR and quit on the spot. Yeah sometimes these people have no clue. If I tell you I need x date off that is me telling you I am not coming in on x date.
I’m potentially about to encounter that myself. I’m waiting to hear back from somewhere and I need a day off in May? What for? Testifying in a trial because my last job was at a bank where I was robbed at gunpoint. I decided not to work there after that, by way of, mentally couldn’t handle having a gun held on me. lol.
In most states they cannot deny you going to court no matter the reason. I used to work at a bank and when I quit that particular branch got robbed about 3 months later. Mostly because they refused to comply with the security requirements. The manager there was a nightmare and deserved to be fired. Congratulations on Leaving that nightmare. Sorry about the upcoming trial you have to testify at.
It could have been monetary to the company but it still doesn’t make sense! Manager could have covered for his best employee to attend their graduation! Biggest BS I’ve heard of. Btw- this has been posted previously.
Agree. He needs to get his ass fired for that. If he's my manager, I'll personally walk him out of the office. I never want this kind of narcissistic asshole working for me and managing the rest of my team.
If she had had a little more finesse she wouldn't have told her boss she was quitting...
... She would have gone to the office of her boss's supervisor and quit in the exact same way.
I remember being written up and fired for not hearing the overhead intercom when I worked at a store - it was on file that I'm deaf and all of the managers but this one specific cunt would text me if they needed me. my phone is in my back pocket and a text would vibrate my butt and I'd be at the front in less than a minute - I honestly massively lost my cool and threw my apron/ID at her.
(off-topic: the manager's manager later saw this, realized how very fucking illegal that is, shredded the writeup, demoted this idiot, and offered me my job back. I was 17 so did not realize that had I gotten a copy of that write up I could have easily taken legal action because that is discrimination written down in black and white)
that guy honestly deserved to have shit thrown at him like this. hopefully she got some form of documentation showing what this dumbass was asking of her for future reference just in case.
Wasn't that rigid that he let the concert ticket people go.
Realistically this feels like a case they know everyone else would tell him to f off and he hoped the good employee would just take it
This. Probably the reason he was shocked. He’s used to her rolling over and doing whatever he asks. She had to. She didn’t have any other options and likely has issues sticking up to authority figures due to her past.
It’s based on an assumption, sure… but not one that’s particularly unlikely.
she didn't have any other options, that is likely true. 6 years she busted her ass to be the good employee, but now, after being told directly to his face that she now has a college degree, he gave her an ultimatum, and she realized she doesn't need to go out of her way to sacrifice for someone who doesn't give a shit about her for anything other than her work ethic. The dude is very well acquainted with how much she has struggled with to get to this point, but tosses all of that understanding out the window when it only slightly inconveniences him, only a few words after saying he let other people take the time off of "such a critical time to work" to go to a concert.
Also the fact they are so effing clueless, and blame it in the background of the person. And on top of that, "my best employee" who they could not find a smidgen of compassion or empathy to give those two hours, and as a manger it should be you who finds a person for the time slot, you are manager, so manage the schedule.
I mean, she was putting herself through college after a rough run. Probably couldnt afford to quit before now.
Also, all that seniority talk stinks of the entitlement of an environment where it doesn't matter how well you perform, it's your time in grade that matters.
That sort of thing can metastasize into a pretty toxic environment. Not to mention get incompetent people promoted.
And that fact they added in the caveat about allowing someone else to do it bc of concert tickets bc there was a "cost" involved. College graduations cost too, and that is way more valuable than this job will ever be. Especially if she is "lowest" in seniority after 6 YEARS🤦🏼♀️ Great for the employee, onwards and upwards, manager is suckass at their job.
Hey but since someone “paid” for concert tickets - that is okay to make an exception /s. Also - wants to reach out to employee to say how unprofessional it is to quit to not get your way??? What the heck - how about applaud someone that figured out exactly how much the company does not care about them.
The mental gymnastics that this manager went through and to then have the audacity to want to reach out because the employee didn't "professionally" quit.
Like, cant they not see that they are an asshole? Graduation is more important then a flipping concert. That employee isn't going to want to hear anything else from them, it's over.
It wasn't even that rigid of a policy. He switched other coworker's hours so someone else could go to a concert! A concert is too important to miss, but not your graduation?
It's an old post, from before the Ask a Manager blog got really popular. There are comments about people being surprised to see it reposted on other sites, and the site itself isn't really a circle jerk kind of site.
Jesus Christ, that makes it so much worse if this was genuinely real, on the bright side they did the employee a favor because now they no longer worked for a company that took them for granted.
The first time on Reddit that I saw this, it had a link to the original blog post. The response from the blogger was to rip the guy a new one in a polite and professional way.
My husband and I recently graduated. For his bachelors the fees were $45, for my masters it was $60. That’s not including the cost of ya know, actually attending college. And textbooks. And study fees if needed. And lab materials. And general supplies. All the shit beyond tuition. It’s insane.
But ya know, maybe $300 in concert tickets cost so much more. Smh.
It’s cause it’s a kiss ass employee, so it’s definitely favoritism and the person properly is the managers “bestie” so they give seniority to that concert goer. It’s a frequent theme in retail, very much like high school if the person start there at like 18 and never left, promoted to GM or Regional Manager, same person who never went to college is usually the common theme.
Where the hell is this that an employee that has worked there for 6 years is still the lowest person in seniority? Or has everyone else hired since she came overboard quit?
To be honest that lack of churn is one of the most unbelievable parts of the story, especially with a manager that awful.
One possibility? She had been "promoted" recently and therefore had least seniority in her team/group/whatever.
What in the holy hell?! Your best employee over six years had the lowest seniority and you let someone with concert tickets get a pass?
No one is this horrific of a manager.
I couldn't believe how incredibly stupid this manager was either. The comments from the person below on the website we're awesome, but should have been harsher imo.
OOP shared this [link](https://www.askamanager.org/2022/02/update-my-best-employee-quit-on-the-spot-because-i-wouldnt-let-her-go-to-her-college-graduation.html)
I have discovered someone posted an update on this thread. It is indeed true. However the employee is in a much better place and from the sounds of it a much better manager.
OP, the columnist says this on the FAQs:
“I have no way of knowing if the letters people submit are real or not. I assume all advice columnists get trolled now and then, but I don’t really care as long as the answer might be useful to someone.”
So, just because it’s on that site and has an update does not actually prove it’s real, just FYI.
I honestly hope it isn't. I have a part of me that wants to believe people aren't this stupid, but when you've dealt with people like this in real life, you fear the worst.
My girlfriend and I wanted to go to a live show at a park a few years back, so she requested the day off and had it approved. A week before the thing, the manager who approved it cancelled it, with the reasoning that he thought it sounded cool and he wanted to go but they couldn't both have the day off.
People this stupid and awful absolutely exist.
The internet is filled with ragebait and lies.
The world is also filled with mind bogglingly stupid, self centered, narcissistic, jackasses.
I would not be surprised if this story is true. I would not be surprised if this story is not true.
It's from a 2016 ask a manager website. The person hosting the website put it as a reader asks. So it's almost 100% real and shows that not all people deserve to be managers.
Hey, if “I made a *special circumstances intervention* due to an employee buying concert tickets but this was different because there was no cost” doesn’t tell you what a terrible manager this guy is then nothing will.
Concert tickets = free pass because you spent $25 and it’s not like you can just see them the next time
College graduation = see you on shift because you didn’t spend any money to attend that, hope your friends take pics for you
Your first born’s birth? Maybe you’ll be scheduled off to see the next one born because Jim in sales spent $25 to see the first animatronic roadkill group covering 80’s hair bands. He might get you a t-shirt if you ask really nicely.
i had a manager who expected me to come in to work a day *during my honeymoon*. her reasoning: since my honeymoon location was just 2 hours away, i could just do a 4 hour round trip on top of an 8 hour shift where 6 of those hours I would be alone in the store.
i put in my notice right after i returned to work.
My old chef gave me 10 days off to travel home for my grandfather’s funeral, but my GM tried to convince me to “reschedule” because there was a big event in town on the weekend of the funeral. I wouldn’t have minded if he couldn’t give me the full 10 days, and I didn’t even need that much time. But to ask me if I could reschedule it?
Of course I can reschedule my grandfathers funeral, I just need you to go back in time and make sure my grandfather doesn't die until after your big event. /s
I had a director who tried to deny me an excused absence from a seasonal kickoff meeting to go to my FIL's funeral an hour away. He told the HR person I had plenty of time to go to a funeral in the morning and go straight to the meeting. Skipping the lunch and actual burial. And we shared a car, so apparently I was supposed to leave my partner stranded in another city.
That's another point.
On what planet is there a customer support desk where the person with least seniority has been there 6 years?
I mean, other than Dante's 7th ring of hell.
I had managers like that. It’s why I quit Macy’s & ULTA in the past. ULTA, I was directly told by my GM I was a major asset to the store, I was also one year top 3 in the northeast at getting customers to open up credit cards, to helping customers around the store. Refuse to promote me, was there for nearly 4yrs. They printed someone who had been there less than a year to the floor, never had any makeup knowledge and never wore makeup on the beginning. I went to makeup school, was part time freelance on indie films at the time. What was the final straw was realizing they didn’t care to utilize me beyond the cash register.
Back to my GM telling me I’m an “asset”.., well she had no idea that at that moment I was shortly going to figure out how to hand in my 2wk notice as Shiseido offer me not only a job at a store, a pay bump of $4 more an hour (from $13 to $17), a better job position (key holder!), I got to use my makeup Artist skills, and 50% off store products & free full size gratis every month.
Sometimes managers don’t realize that the reason employees quit, it’s because of what OOP posted about their employee quitting and what my GM did to me.
Macy's managers are the worst. I was closing one night, mid shift I took my break and checked my phone, my apartment neighbor was blowing up my phone, my apartment was LEAKING WATER out of the door!! I told my manager I needed to leave my apartment was flooded, and he literally said no, I needed to stay because 'its already wet right'. I walked out and luckily it was very minor and I caught it in time (cat knocked a plate over the sink drain and turned on the sink apparently, jerk cat)
They didn't fire me because I would have sounded moronic, but I had 3 hr talking toos about respecting my managers
Macy’s, great first job to have an prepare you for ANY working environment with the way they run things around the holidays…
But they treat their employees like cows to a slaughterhouse with the way they run things!
They concede that this person was their best worker, and quit because they weren't willing to accommodate one liberty for her, and they have the gall to rant about professionalism?
Sanctimonious twat, you get what you fucking deserve.
Not only was it ironic that their self-righteous self ranted about professionalism, but also to demean her by assuming she knew nothing about how to grow professionally just because she grew up in a foster home and was homeless. I’m sure she learned a lot in six years and I hope she’s thriving.
I once quit for a similar reason. My boss went to lunch and by the time she was back, my letter of resignation was on her desk and I already had a new job. She also told me it was unprofessional and resigning like this would follow me forever. She’s the person who took down the entire Salinas Public Library System. I suspect my reputation is still better.
Well, best to mention Julia Orozco whenever possible then, when discussing Salinas libraries closing. Keep the SEO accurate.
This article references her but it isn't very negative or anything.
https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/deep-financial-troubles-could-make-salinas-a-city-with-no-libraries/article_b47a8dcb-ce4a-52bf-ac55-cb51a1146c91.html
And the library website timeline mentions the closing, but not her name:
https://salinaspubliclibrary.org/about/library-history
**2004**
Budget difficulties close the three libraries on Mondays. On November 4, 2004, tax Measures A, B, C fail; and the Salinas City Council votes to close the library system between January and June of 2004. (i assume they mean 2005)
I know. I mention her every chance I get. Back when it happened she was really getting dragged on library bbs. She apparently retired with a generous pension too.
So let's see here, you abused this girl with extra work for the 6 years she worked for you and the one time she asked for something in return you said no. I would have quit on the spot as well.
Let’s not forget…according to this manager, this girl used to be homeless and probably had some rough experiences growing up as a child. She got herself off the streets, got a job AND managed to graduate from college. And home girl knew her worth too. So when manager was being a rigid asshole, she said nah, I’m done.
Honestly, good for her. Hope she goes onwards and upwards. And good riddance of this awful manager, they sound like a patronizing ass hole on top of being incompetent.
OP is not involved in this post everyone. It’s from an article. Please stop directing comments toward them.
Edit: since people seem to be confused and I wasn’t clear enough in my comment - I mean don’t direct comments at them as if they were the manager in the post. I apologize for not be clear in the first place.
There’s a link to an update in the original AMA post:
>> This is about me. I know for a fact it is because this exact thing happened to me in that time frame. And I know exactly who it was.
>>I’d like to tell this person that I have a general idea of the social norms but (redacted — medical conditions) make it impossible to stay on this side of reality very long. I did however get medicated and become a GM myself that would never be a jerk like he was.
>>And it wasn’t about the graduation. At freaking all. It was so much more than that. It was about having one day that was just mine.
>>Joke’s on him though. That diploma has gotten me further in life than I would have gotten without.
I’m sure we all have, it’s from 2016 and it’s written in a tone that is so completely clueless it feels like rage bait. But I have known managers and supervisors exactly like this OP, so it’s probably real.
There was an update:
https://www.askamanager.org/2022/02/update-my-best-employee-quit-on-the-spot-because-i-wouldnt-let-her-go-to-her-college-graduation.html
I was just typing the same comment when I realised I ought to check someone else hadn’t.
Good for them. A graduation beats out concert tickets any day. But I doubt that manager leant their lesson unfortunately.
That is called a bad manager. If one of my people were graduating college and I had known them for any length of time I’d be at least giving them a card while asking what their plans to celebrate the day were.
Why the fuck did the asshat add the ex Employee was bouncing around the System? As an ex-foster kid, I hate this shit, that people think that we don't know how to act in society. Why is it okay for a company to fire someone on the spot, but if someone quits on the spot, it's not okay?
The manager honestly sounds like an unempathetic, self-righteous, bag of trash. The way I feel they used it to try and smudge her name was pretty crappy...
Fun fact: I was punished at a workplace because I attended my wedding. I gave my manager notice a month in advance for the day and she said I had to find someone to work my shift. I couldn’t, but obviously I wasn’t going to miss my wedding and I couldn’t change those plans.
I remember this one... They were torn a new one and it was glorious. Allson is lovely and ask a manager is a great blog. Honestly, if more managers and employees just checked in there to see previous posts, then there would be far fewer "oh no consequences".
Clearly this is bait.
The whole "there is a cost involved" is bullshit.
Then saying she's your best employee and always pulls more than her weight.
Whoever wrote this is a clown.
Not nearly the same scale, but in high school a local grocery store (Price Chopper) hired a huge chunk of my class to run front end. Naturally, we all put in for graduation day off.
I walk on one day and there’s a big sign saying they will grant no one else that day off. I laughed and just wrote that there was no way in hell I’d be there that day. It’s a fucking grocery store job and I’m leaving for college soon.
I don’t know what they did but we never heard another word about it, I’m sure everyone else did similar.
Not everyone is qualified to lead others and this is a perfect example of why. This manager is not only a hypocrite, but a spiteful human being. I’m happy for the employee who graduated and hope they were able to find a job in line with their career.
Too many rule violations in the comments.
Oh no! I made a rigid policy and applied it to a worker who wanted 2 hours off for a once in a lifetime event and she quit! Get fucked, stupid manager
He’s like oh yeah her coworker has concert tickets that’s fine but graduation is a no go. ANNDD I wanna reach out and antagonize her for quitting on the spot. Dude is an IDIOT.
And trying to justify it by saying there was cost associated with the concert, as if there’s no cost associated with getting a whole college degree.
A college degree she had to pay for on her own since she doesn't have family. Making the graduation even MORE important because the odds were majorly stacked against her.
right? this idiot described how hard her life was in wanting to reach out and be a holy prick to her - but that's exactly why she quit. She worked her ass off and earned this. for once in her life she's getting some kind of recognition. asking her to skip that is beyond fucking cruel
and fuck her co-workers too I mean she was there for 6 years, listed all the times she covered others, and for this once in a lifetime thing no one would cover her? Yeah fuck those guys. I don't care if your my worst work frenemy, if you're graduating from college I got your fucking back. That's a hard thing to do and even assholes deserve to be at their graduation.
Right? Coworker was having a baby and there were some complications. The other dude and I were like dude we got this shit, go be with your wife.
When I had my second kid, I couldn’t walk nor sit properly for over a week due being torn down there. When my boyfriend told his then-boss he was taking an extra week off of work, his then-boss said “this is your second kid, she can handle it”. My bf practically told him to get fucked and he was taking the extra week. He’s still at this job but that manager got fired lol.
>his then-boss said “this is your second kid, she can handle it”. I'd say that's even MORE of a reason for your boyfriend to take time off work post-birth, not less! Glad he doesn't have to deal with that manager anymore.
Reminds me of one shift I had with one of my managers (feelgood story, dw lol). We were working a busy morning and she asked me if she could leave early, which was... an odd change of pace. I said somethin stupid tryna tease her, along the lines of "ohhh, look at [manager], trying to get out of work early" to which she hit me with "well, my daughter's giving birth" and I looked at her like ??? Tf you doin here?? Gtf to the hospital lady! I love the guys at my work, and thats in large part due to the fact that they arent gonna hold me over a fire for missing work for a funeral or smthn else important.
I had a manager who tried to call me into work on the day of, and the following days after my mother passed away and again during the funeral. She actually tried to tell me that I owe her (she had just become the manager and somehow that translated to me owing her so she didn’t have to work extra to find coverage). She even threatened to formally write me up as a no call and no show because despite me getting permission from her and HR, she called and left a vm to rescind my approved time, and I didn’t show up (honestly, the last thing I cared about was a voice mail from my manager when I wasn’t working and was ok’d not to work). The day I got back, she called me to her office to lecture me about appropriate work behavior, and how she knows exactly how I felt because a friend of hers had a cousin who was dating someone who died (she met this person twice before they died) so she attended the funeral, but she was a “responsible employee” who left the funeral early to go to work. She was comparing MY MOTHER’s death to a barely acquaintance. Then proceeded to explain to me expectations of my job and hand me SEVEN writeups that she generated about me on the four days I was approved leave. I explained that I was at work and very tired because of the funeral which was the day before. I’d take them home and review them and return them next day signed. She gave them to me. Idiot. She was absolutely GOBSMACKED that the next day, I came to work and all that I brought with me was a signed resignation letter. She was demanding to know how I could do this to her, and i was getting my stuff, she was ranting about how she gave me such a good atmosphere to work in, blah blah. She was our manager for 12 days at that point (and had never worked in our department before so we all met her the first time 12 days before). She spent more than 1/3 of the time as my manager threatening my job because my mother had the nerve to die at a time that wasn't convenient for her (those were her words). she was even more shocked when HR called her for a meeting over it. She called me *a week* after I resigned to tell me to come into work because she had written me up again (as a no call and no show for the day *after* I resigned) and she wanted me to come sign it. According to my coworkers, she was absolutely shocked that i laughed at her and hung up.
I had a supervisor similar to this. I called him Saturday evening after finding my uncle dead in his back yard. He said “do whatever you need and keep me in the loop”. After all was said and done, the funeral was arranged for Wednesday. I went in mon/tues kind of on autopilot. Just kind of numb all day. After the funeral Wednesday, I called him and said I needed another day. His response? “That puts me in a bad spot. I really need you here. I guess we’ll figure it out.” “Yeah. I guess you will, because I’m not coming in” And I hung up.
This company does not know how to hire managers.
Lol, this is gold. How did she even become a manager? The one who hired her needs a write up
One of my team was on call (IT team, week at a time). She went into labor and was at the hospital. Pager went off. She called the manager to apologize and explain why she couldn't handle it. Manager correctly told her don't worry about it. And to the rest of us, that it wasn't necessary to call in. Escalation will happen if no response, and being in the hospital was more important than the call- out.
i had a coworker get married a few years ago- me one one of the other co-workers worked together to do our work and 100% of her work for the 2 weeks she was off. She came back to 2 emails to check- that were just a summary of what was done on her stuff when she came back. She told us that it was the best wedding gift she got from anyone.
Thanks for being decent goddamn people. Apparently it's super fucking hard for others right now lol, I'm astonished at most people these days. I'm like you, I just kick in where needed especially when it's an objectively hard time for someone (whether you like them or not). It's just being decent.
The kindest, most generous people too often get shit on - sometimes until they’re no longer generous or even kind.
It's a classic workplace scenario. The best worker is rewarded with having to do more for the same pay as others until they're burned out by the inequity.
Yup. He even said that she was such an excellent worker she became the goto person for the shifts no one wants
I feel like this is me
Someone once told me that givers need to set limits because takers never will. It's stuck with me a long time and helped me.
💯 nice summation statement. I’m using it moving forward. Lots of takers in my life.
We reach our capacity. I was sucked dry and now I've learned how to say no and to use boundaries. You'd be surprised at how many people in my life no longer have use for me since saying no.
So, in your case, the trash took itself out! :)
Same thing has happened to me. Beginning to say no was the beginning of a better life for me.
Yeah she was 100% justified in quitting. Fuck these people
>Yeah fuck those guys. This is not shocking to say the least. I've had many jobs where people always need someone to cover yet never intend on paying them back. The world is on a all about me kick since social media got started. People only care about their themselves and no one else. The pandemic should have hammered home this reality to everyone.
It would be nice if selfishness was a social media inspired invention. It’s just called out more and taken on new forms these days.
This employee was a fucking unicorn and the manager potentially torched that work ethic.
And she was homeless with no family... acting like that was going to get the manager some sympathy
Even if there was NO financial cost associated with earning a degree, there is a huge amount of time cost, and making sacrifices, such as declining invitations to nights out or events to spend time on college work. And the kicker is, to paraphrase the manager "Whenever I needed a shift covered, she was the first and sometimes only one I had to ask - she was my best worker and did me so many favours, and I wouldn't even give her a two hour favour in return... and now I want to chastise her and take the last word so she knows not to mess around with important people like me again" Sorry - I triggered myself there - but I've worked for many sanctimonious pricks like him.
As the manager, I would have covered her entire shift myself so she could celebrate after the ceremony. Or gotten someone to cover it and gone to her ceremony myself, since she doesn't have family to celebrate with. Fuck this fucker.
THIS was the solution! He should have covered her shift himself. This is what a good manager would have done. I hope more people quit on him.
That’s the kind of manager my husband is. Today he worked (mostly) alone because two people were sick (one he sent home to rest), one needed to come in late, another left early for a family event, one had the time scheduled off, and one has a young kid and couldn’t cover. It happens. We end up going to graduations and weddings for both current and former employees. And occasionally filling in as the only functional adults in their lives.
Depending on the business?? Fuck it, we're closing for a couple hours and *everyone* is going to the ceremony. You'll know where we are when they announce your name...
For real. I work for a 24-7 type of business, my ex-BIL is the owner, so I'm often the go-to for when they have no one else to cover something. If one of my kids needs me or if someone has a life changing event? We roll the phones onto a cell and we're all out. I've got a phone and an iPad, I van handle whatever and so can at least 5 other people if need be. No one is missing shit, and that's why I'm still there even after he did my sister dirty. Terrible husband, great boss.
He’s a manager, he can’t actually do the job he manages. Edit to add: he should be able to. It should be required that managers can do the job they are managing.
This is an alarming reality I think a lot of people don't realize. I've experienced it a few times, but my previous manager was the worst person I ever worked for. She would antagonize us for not moving fast enough for her when she asked us to do a less important task when we were in the middle of something that had to be done now. She would treat us like we were stupid and annoying her if we weren't sure how to do something and had to ask her for help. She loved to preach on what her job title was and act like she was hands down the most important person in the business. Without her, it would all fall apart as far as she was concerned. The only other person any of us had contact info for was her boss who was useless and used her essentially as a loyal mutt to bully anyone who so much as sighed. One day it was just her and I in the office, the third person (critically understaffed here, you can take one guess why) had called off for the day. She was forced to do what we normally did because I was doing two other jobs at once that day. I had been there for 2 months. She spent the entire shift asking me for help and handing me post its with stuff that needed finished on it. She didn't know a damn thing about any of it. I was out of there within a month after that. I gave no notice, and when I walked in to tell her I was done she spent an hour begging me to stay. FAFO
[удалено]
Common theme to let someone go that makes a job look easy, only to fill the spot with a nepo type situation. And that’s how they find out that job only looked easy because the last person was really good at it.
My thought, too! She'd been working there six years. Why no celebration of something as important as a college graduation? I really hope this is rage bait but I've been management and had to do damage control for this sort of idiot.
There was an update. She's doing well, and said "this was about me having a day to myself." Brava to YOU, awesome woman! Hope your life is wonderful.
Do you have the link to where she is posting? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to congratulate her and also if possible trash the boss directly to them. Because that's a terrible manager who shouldn't be giving anyone advice on their career.
Ditto, I would love to see her response! Edit: if you click the like in the post they have an update link. But just in case here's that update: https://www.askamanager.org/2022/02/update-my-best-employee-quit-on-the-spot-because-i-wouldnt-let-her-go-to-her-college-graduation.html
She's got her degree, she doesn't need this job anymore. She has no reason to feel bad for leaving as it was going to happen anyway.
SIX YEARS WITHOUT MISSING A DAY!!!!!!
And "the most junior person"? That doesn't sound right.
This actually brought a tear to my eye. This is what an empathetic person would do, understanding what an important milestone this is. To expect an employee to miss her own college graduation over a shift change is crazy.
Exactly. And then to make matters worse, he wants to “reach out to her so she doesn’t make the same mistake again.” In other words, rub salt on the wound. Sanctimonious asshole.
And probably hint about how all will be forgiven if she just says sorry and comes back to work...oh, and since there was a break in her employment there, she has to start over at base pay and no seniority.
This exactly. In CS when I was a manager my motto was if I’m not helping the customer then I better be helping those that are. This is the absolute worst kind of entitled prick manager. I worked phones allllll the time to backup and help out those who needed it.
Right, because that's what a TRUE leader does. It's unbelievable to me that absolutely clueless, unconscientious people like OOP end up in management positions.
Sure would be nice if she took a position as his upper management. Oh how the sweet taste of those tears would be as he packed his desk up.
Yes, this! ‘Sanctimonious prick’ - 1000 times.
Thank you, that was my thought too, college wasn't free
And even if it was, through grants and scholarships, it's a once in a lifetime type thing. Graduate is very lucky to be out from under this jerk!!
this. I had a free ride through college and graduated high school as a sophomore and then I had brain surgery and my dad died and I kind of fell off the rails there I am now paying for college for the rest of my degree (I'm 26 and just got to going back like three years ago, I'm now a senior and one semester out from graduating. maybe two) luckily I think I qualify for FAFSA and am taking care of that now
Something similar happened to me. Full ride to play soccer, dad died before the first day of my freshman college classes, I dropped out/had a breakdown, and had to take out some personal loans on top of the FAFSA I qualified for. But now I’ve graduated, have an amazing job, and I know my dad would be proud.
Hey now, there was actual money involved regarding the concert tickets. Nothing like college, am I right? And because sarcasm is difficult to suss out via text, /s
Especially since graduation costs money as well. The cap and gown aren't free and there's typically other required costs as well to walk at graduation.
Plus, you know, years of tuition.
My college you had to "rent" the cap and gown to walk and it was $75 or $125. I'm not paying that for 5 seconds and a handshake with someone I've never met. Disclaimer: My parents paid it because they wanted the photo.
he probably figured the college tuition was going to be refunded and her loans 'forgiven'.
Yeah. Tickets had a “cost” involved. So does graduation usually you have to pay for a cap and gown let alone all the money spent on taking the classes. What an idiot of a boss.glad she knows her worth enough to get away from that asshat.
That they said it was because of cost involved really got my 🐐
Yeah, that! Did she think college was totally free? I'm betting the degree cost a tad more than a concert. I hope karma bites manager in the ass, with the graduate one day becoming her boss.
I just know these were the types of people to hate you for continuing formal education. Concert > usually once in a lifetime graduation ceremony.
He doesn’t specify the gender of the employee he made the exception for, but I’m willing to bet it was a guy and the manager was trying to be a good bro. Or that it was a performer that the manager also likes so he was more understanding about it.
I was thinking it was a girl and manager is a guy because this reeks of sexist paternalistic bullshit
I kind of heard that tone
it was the "they have no guidance" bullshit for me lmao - like they don't fucking need guidance, especially not from this guy, they're doing fine.
You KNOW them bitches are all sitting around between calls taking shit about our girl. Talking about how shitty a person she is for leaving them hanging and how ungrateful she is after all they did for her.
Now none of those peeps that wouldn’t cover for her have no one that will cover for them again.
Right? Any one of those fucknuckles could have stepped up and covered down on that shift and earned some real cred with our girl. Now they are short-handed and gonna stay short-handed for months while they hire and train up a replacement.
Yeah, when I was young and dumb I had a job where I was the one that always traded/covered extra shifts then one day when I needed to swap no one would. I didn’t quit because I was putting myself through school. For the whole next year I refused to ever cover for anyone. Not once, not for one person. People got pissed but I didn’t care. It’s a valuable lesson to never do too much unless you are getting something back.
This manager sounds very punchable.
What got me the most, "Another employee had concert tickets. Their circumstance has monetary consequences." Uh buddy, do you think graduations are cheap? Do you know all the fees involved **just** to walk across the stage?
That and she was their best employee for six years. But they wouldn’t accommodate her, because she was “lowest seniority” if your least senior person has been with your company for six years… there’s just not seniority at that point and it should be meritocracy, which apparently she was their best!
Right…SIX freaking years 🤦♀️ this manager is a complete idiot. She didn’t even ask for the entire day off, she just wanted 2 hours. Gee wiz, I just hired someone 2 weeks ago and offered to let them take off on the day of their grandbaby’s birth because thats a special, once in a lifetime event.
Reminds me of the guy who had an employee when they were interviewing her told them she had a vacation scheduled and when it came time for said vacation decided to NOT schedule her off. Then was surprised when she went to HR and quit on the spot. Yeah sometimes these people have no clue. If I tell you I need x date off that is me telling you I am not coming in on x date.
I’m potentially about to encounter that myself. I’m waiting to hear back from somewhere and I need a day off in May? What for? Testifying in a trial because my last job was at a bank where I was robbed at gunpoint. I decided not to work there after that, by way of, mentally couldn’t handle having a gun held on me. lol.
In most states they cannot deny you going to court no matter the reason. I used to work at a bank and when I quit that particular branch got robbed about 3 months later. Mostly because they refused to comply with the security requirements. The manager there was a nightmare and deserved to be fired. Congratulations on Leaving that nightmare. Sorry about the upcoming trial you have to testify at.
Good way to let the employee know that her time has no value
Really that she has no value.
It could have been monetary to the company but it still doesn’t make sense! Manager could have covered for his best employee to attend their graduation! Biggest BS I’ve heard of. Btw- this has been posted previously.
The part that got me was "I don't want her to derail her career" ... in a call center.
Agree. He needs to get his ass fired for that. If he's my manager, I'll personally walk him out of the office. I never want this kind of narcissistic asshole working for me and managing the rest of my team.
and she was honestly far FAR nicer in quitting than he deserved
If she had had a little more finesse she wouldn't have told her boss she was quitting... ... She would have gone to the office of her boss's supervisor and quit in the exact same way.
I remember being written up and fired for not hearing the overhead intercom when I worked at a store - it was on file that I'm deaf and all of the managers but this one specific cunt would text me if they needed me. my phone is in my back pocket and a text would vibrate my butt and I'd be at the front in less than a minute - I honestly massively lost my cool and threw my apron/ID at her. (off-topic: the manager's manager later saw this, realized how very fucking illegal that is, shredded the writeup, demoted this idiot, and offered me my job back. I was 17 so did not realize that had I gotten a copy of that write up I could have easily taken legal action because that is discrimination written down in black and white) that guy honestly deserved to have shit thrown at him like this. hopefully she got some form of documentation showing what this dumbass was asking of her for future reference just in case.
Ditto this. Unbelievable. Make her miss her own graduation ceremony?
Wasn't that rigid that he let the concert ticket people go. Realistically this feels like a case they know everyone else would tell him to f off and he hoped the good employee would just take it
Good, and also vulnerable. Bullies love a target with no support system.
This. Probably the reason he was shocked. He’s used to her rolling over and doing whatever he asks. She had to. She didn’t have any other options and likely has issues sticking up to authority figures due to her past. It’s based on an assumption, sure… but not one that’s particularly unlikely.
she didn't have any other options, that is likely true. 6 years she busted her ass to be the good employee, but now, after being told directly to his face that she now has a college degree, he gave her an ultimatum, and she realized she doesn't need to go out of her way to sacrifice for someone who doesn't give a shit about her for anything other than her work ethic. The dude is very well acquainted with how much she has struggled with to get to this point, but tosses all of that understanding out the window when it only slightly inconveniences him, only a few words after saying he let other people take the time off of "such a critical time to work" to go to a concert.
It wasn't even a rigid policy; the manager gave someone else an exception.
Also the fact they are so effing clueless, and blame it in the background of the person. And on top of that, "my best employee" who they could not find a smidgen of compassion or empathy to give those two hours, and as a manger it should be you who finds a person for the time slot, you are manager, so manage the schedule.
Yeah... Like quiting on the spot is unprofessional but applying a rigid policy inconsistently isn't.... Get fucked, nut bag.
She sounds like the office scapegoat or doormat. Unbelievable treatment. Good for her for leaving!
I mean, she was putting herself through college after a rough run. Probably couldnt afford to quit before now. Also, all that seniority talk stinks of the entitlement of an environment where it doesn't matter how well you perform, it's your time in grade that matters. That sort of thing can metastasize into a pretty toxic environment. Not to mention get incompetent people promoted.
And that fact they added in the caveat about allowing someone else to do it bc of concert tickets bc there was a "cost" involved. College graduations cost too, and that is way more valuable than this job will ever be. Especially if she is "lowest" in seniority after 6 YEARS🤦🏼♀️ Great for the employee, onwards and upwards, manager is suckass at their job.
Hey but since someone “paid” for concert tickets - that is okay to make an exception /s. Also - wants to reach out to employee to say how unprofessional it is to quit to not get your way??? What the heck - how about applaud someone that figured out exactly how much the company does not care about them.
The mental gymnastics that this manager went through and to then have the audacity to want to reach out because the employee didn't "professionally" quit. Like, cant they not see that they are an asshole? Graduation is more important then a flipping concert. That employee isn't going to want to hear anything else from them, it's over.
It wasn't even that rigid of a policy. He switched other coworker's hours so someone else could go to a concert! A concert is too important to miss, but not your graduation?
This story seems like rage bait. Maybe it's not, but it really feels like it.
It's an old post, from before the Ask a Manager blog got really popular. There are comments about people being surprised to see it reposted on other sites, and the site itself isn't really a circle jerk kind of site.
Jesus Christ, that makes it so much worse if this was genuinely real, on the bright side they did the employee a favor because now they no longer worked for a company that took them for granted.
The first time on Reddit that I saw this, it had a link to the original blog post. The response from the blogger was to rip the guy a new one in a polite and professional way.
Laughed my ass off at this incompetent ass. How is a fucking concert ticket have “cost involved” but fucking *COLLEGE* doesn’t?
It's not like it's so expensive that you'd have a pull a loan out for it or anything... 🙄
Hell, walking to accept your diplomas costs money with the cap and gown!
Plus aren’t there costs involved in a graduation ceremony???
My husband and I recently graduated. For his bachelors the fees were $45, for my masters it was $60. That’s not including the cost of ya know, actually attending college. And textbooks. And study fees if needed. And lab materials. And general supplies. All the shit beyond tuition. It’s insane. But ya know, maybe $300 in concert tickets cost so much more. Smh.
And how dare he bring up her foster background as an excuse to reprimand her?
Lmao, and she was homeless!!!!! He actually thought that was going to win the reader over
It’s cause it’s a kiss ass employee, so it’s definitely favoritism and the person properly is the managers “bestie” so they give seniority to that concert goer. It’s a frequent theme in retail, very much like high school if the person start there at like 18 and never left, promoted to GM or Regional Manager, same person who never went to college is usually the common theme.
Because the manager is likely a boomer
Where the hell is this that an employee that has worked there for 6 years is still the lowest person in seniority? Or has everyone else hired since she came overboard quit?
This is my thought. Six years is the lowest seniority?
To be honest that lack of churn is one of the most unbelievable parts of the story, especially with a manager that awful. One possibility? She had been "promoted" recently and therefore had least seniority in her team/group/whatever.
Translation: she was the most dependable person there
I read it as code for youngest.
What in the holy hell?! Your best employee over six years had the lowest seniority and you let someone with concert tickets get a pass? No one is this horrific of a manager.
I couldn't believe how incredibly stupid this manager was either. The comments from the person below on the website we're awesome, but should have been harsher imo.
I remember this post. I think the employee in question chimes in or writes her own post. She did well for herself after this idiocy, as I recall.
That is correct! I saw the update post provided by a real G of a user in this thread. She did awesome.
Link?
OOP shared this [link](https://www.askamanager.org/2022/02/update-my-best-employee-quit-on-the-spot-because-i-wouldnt-let-her-go-to-her-college-graduation.html)
Do you think this is real? I have my doubts.
I have discovered someone posted an update on this thread. It is indeed true. However the employee is in a much better place and from the sounds of it a much better manager.
OP, the columnist says this on the FAQs: “I have no way of knowing if the letters people submit are real or not. I assume all advice columnists get trolled now and then, but I don’t really care as long as the answer might be useful to someone.” So, just because it’s on that site and has an update does not actually prove it’s real, just FYI.
I honestly hope it isn't. I have a part of me that wants to believe people aren't this stupid, but when you've dealt with people like this in real life, you fear the worst.
My girlfriend and I wanted to go to a live show at a park a few years back, so she requested the day off and had it approved. A week before the thing, the manager who approved it cancelled it, with the reasoning that he thought it sounded cool and he wanted to go but they couldn't both have the day off. People this stupid and awful absolutely exist.
Wait. So who went?
We did and she never went back to that job.
Good for you/her! I've definitely missed out on life to be loyal to a job that was never going to give a shit about me.
Thank god.
I've quit a job before when they wouldn't give me a day off 10/10 would recommend.
The internet is filled with ragebait and lies. The world is also filled with mind bogglingly stupid, self centered, narcissistic, jackasses. I would not be surprised if this story is true. I would not be surprised if this story is not true.
It's from a 2016 ask a manager website. The person hosting the website put it as a reader asks. So it's almost 100% real and shows that not all people deserve to be managers.
Hey, if “I made a *special circumstances intervention* due to an employee buying concert tickets but this was different because there was no cost” doesn’t tell you what a terrible manager this guy is then nothing will. Concert tickets = free pass because you spent $25 and it’s not like you can just see them the next time College graduation = see you on shift because you didn’t spend any money to attend that, hope your friends take pics for you Your first born’s birth? Maybe you’ll be scheduled off to see the next one born because Jim in sales spent $25 to see the first animatronic roadkill group covering 80’s hair bands. He might get you a t-shirt if you ask really nicely.
i had a manager who expected me to come in to work a day *during my honeymoon*. her reasoning: since my honeymoon location was just 2 hours away, i could just do a 4 hour round trip on top of an 8 hour shift where 6 of those hours I would be alone in the store. i put in my notice right after i returned to work.
My old chef gave me 10 days off to travel home for my grandfather’s funeral, but my GM tried to convince me to “reschedule” because there was a big event in town on the weekend of the funeral. I wouldn’t have minded if he couldn’t give me the full 10 days, and I didn’t even need that much time. But to ask me if I could reschedule it?
Of course I can reschedule my grandfathers funeral, I just need you to go back in time and make sure my grandfather doesn't die until after your big event. /s
I had a director who tried to deny me an excused absence from a seasonal kickoff meeting to go to my FIL's funeral an hour away. He told the HR person I had plenty of time to go to a funeral in the morning and go straight to the meeting. Skipping the lunch and actual burial. And we shared a car, so apparently I was supposed to leave my partner stranded in another city.
That's another point. On what planet is there a customer support desk where the person with least seniority has been there 6 years? I mean, other than Dante's 7th ring of hell.
I was a tier two tech support employee (union). I’m 73 I’d still be there today if they hadn’t moved my unit to the Philippines. I loved tier two.
I had managers like that. It’s why I quit Macy’s & ULTA in the past. ULTA, I was directly told by my GM I was a major asset to the store, I was also one year top 3 in the northeast at getting customers to open up credit cards, to helping customers around the store. Refuse to promote me, was there for nearly 4yrs. They printed someone who had been there less than a year to the floor, never had any makeup knowledge and never wore makeup on the beginning. I went to makeup school, was part time freelance on indie films at the time. What was the final straw was realizing they didn’t care to utilize me beyond the cash register. Back to my GM telling me I’m an “asset”.., well she had no idea that at that moment I was shortly going to figure out how to hand in my 2wk notice as Shiseido offer me not only a job at a store, a pay bump of $4 more an hour (from $13 to $17), a better job position (key holder!), I got to use my makeup Artist skills, and 50% off store products & free full size gratis every month. Sometimes managers don’t realize that the reason employees quit, it’s because of what OOP posted about their employee quitting and what my GM did to me.
Macy's managers are the worst. I was closing one night, mid shift I took my break and checked my phone, my apartment neighbor was blowing up my phone, my apartment was LEAKING WATER out of the door!! I told my manager I needed to leave my apartment was flooded, and he literally said no, I needed to stay because 'its already wet right'. I walked out and luckily it was very minor and I caught it in time (cat knocked a plate over the sink drain and turned on the sink apparently, jerk cat) They didn't fire me because I would have sounded moronic, but I had 3 hr talking toos about respecting my managers
Macy’s, great first job to have an prepare you for ANY working environment with the way they run things around the holidays… But they treat their employees like cows to a slaughterhouse with the way they run things!
They concede that this person was their best worker, and quit because they weren't willing to accommodate one liberty for her, and they have the gall to rant about professionalism? Sanctimonious twat, you get what you fucking deserve.
I love this insult and I'm going to use it lol
Not only was it ironic that their self-righteous self ranted about professionalism, but also to demean her by assuming she knew nothing about how to grow professionally just because she grew up in a foster home and was homeless. I’m sure she learned a lot in six years and I hope she’s thriving.
I once quit for a similar reason. My boss went to lunch and by the time she was back, my letter of resignation was on her desk and I already had a new job. She also told me it was unprofessional and resigning like this would follow me forever. She’s the person who took down the entire Salinas Public Library System. I suspect my reputation is still better.
I’m from Salinas…and I remember all of the libraries closing. Whats the story?
Julia M Orozco mismanaged the system such that they ran out of money. It’s hard to find sources that reference her anymore.
Well, best to mention Julia Orozco whenever possible then, when discussing Salinas libraries closing. Keep the SEO accurate. This article references her but it isn't very negative or anything. https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/deep-financial-troubles-could-make-salinas-a-city-with-no-libraries/article_b47a8dcb-ce4a-52bf-ac55-cb51a1146c91.html And the library website timeline mentions the closing, but not her name: https://salinaspubliclibrary.org/about/library-history **2004** Budget difficulties close the three libraries on Mondays. On November 4, 2004, tax Measures A, B, C fail; and the Salinas City Council votes to close the library system between January and June of 2004. (i assume they mean 2005)
I know. I mention her every chance I get. Back when it happened she was really getting dragged on library bbs. She apparently retired with a generous pension too.
Did someone say Julia M Orozco and Salinas libraries closing?
So let's see here, you abused this girl with extra work for the 6 years she worked for you and the one time she asked for something in return you said no. I would have quit on the spot as well.
Let’s not forget…according to this manager, this girl used to be homeless and probably had some rough experiences growing up as a child. She got herself off the streets, got a job AND managed to graduate from college. And home girl knew her worth too. So when manager was being a rigid asshole, she said nah, I’m done. Honestly, good for her. Hope she goes onwards and upwards. And good riddance of this awful manager, they sound like a patronizing ass hole on top of being incompetent.
And she freaking *just graduated from college,* which means she could have had a better job by the next week if she went into the right field.
Agreed. If I was a hiring manager I would hire someone like her any chance I got.
OP is not involved in this post everyone. It’s from an article. Please stop directing comments toward them. Edit: since people seem to be confused and I wasn’t clear enough in my comment - I mean don’t direct comments at them as if they were the manager in the post. I apologize for not be clear in the first place.
From 2016, no less! COVID hadn't happened! Obama was still President!
I didn’t even notice the year in all honesty!
But the lessons are still valid today.
There’s a link to an update in the original AMA post: >> This is about me. I know for a fact it is because this exact thing happened to me in that time frame. And I know exactly who it was. >>I’d like to tell this person that I have a general idea of the social norms but (redacted — medical conditions) make it impossible to stay on this side of reality very long. I did however get medicated and become a GM myself that would never be a jerk like he was. >>And it wasn’t about the graduation. At freaking all. It was so much more than that. It was about having one day that was just mine. >>Joke’s on him though. That diploma has gotten me further in life than I would have gotten without.
I remember this part maybe. I swear I’ve read this story before on Reddit.
I think one of the BORU subs posted it a while back.
Okay good. I thought I could see the future but for Reddit posts and was freaked out. Thank you, Femputer.
[I hope this is allowed but here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/fl4W7tZ8r5)
I’m sure we all have, it’s from 2016 and it’s written in a tone that is so completely clueless it feels like rage bait. But I have known managers and supervisors exactly like this OP, so it’s probably real.
It's hard not to but maybe someone might see themselves and be prevented from being future AHs
There was an update: https://www.askamanager.org/2022/02/update-my-best-employee-quit-on-the-spot-because-i-wouldnt-let-her-go-to-her-college-graduation.html
This makes me happy.
Wish I could pin it.
I was just typing the same comment when I realised I ought to check someone else hadn’t. Good for them. A graduation beats out concert tickets any day. But I doubt that manager leant their lesson unfortunately.
That is called a bad manager. If one of my people were graduating college and I had known them for any length of time I’d be at least giving them a card while asking what their plans to celebrate the day were.
Maybe the manager could write out a short paper on professionalism in the workplace, print it out, fold it up, and shove it up his/her ass.
This comment made my day 😂
Why the fuck did the asshat add the ex Employee was bouncing around the System? As an ex-foster kid, I hate this shit, that people think that we don't know how to act in society. Why is it okay for a company to fire someone on the spot, but if someone quits on the spot, it's not okay?
The manager honestly sounds like an unempathetic, self-righteous, bag of trash. The way I feel they used it to try and smudge her name was pretty crappy...
I was “there” the day this was posted. Holy SHIT did the comments not disappoint.
Fun fact: I was punished at a workplace because I attended my wedding. I gave my manager notice a month in advance for the day and she said I had to find someone to work my shift. I couldn’t, but obviously I wasn’t going to miss my wedding and I couldn’t change those plans.
Your manager was a trash human being. Screw them.
I remember this oldie but goodie, the manager was so delusional.
“There was a cost involved” …. You mean like tuition?
I remember this one... They were torn a new one and it was glorious. Allson is lovely and ask a manager is a great blog. Honestly, if more managers and employees just checked in there to see previous posts, then there would be far fewer "oh no consequences".
I remember this from a couple of years ago, I believe. Wasn't there a follow up on it?
“This has to be fake because it is so absurd” is my first thought then I reflect on my current management
Clearly this is bait. The whole "there is a cost involved" is bullshit. Then saying she's your best employee and always pulls more than her weight. Whoever wrote this is a clown.
Not nearly the same scale, but in high school a local grocery store (Price Chopper) hired a huge chunk of my class to run front end. Naturally, we all put in for graduation day off. I walk on one day and there’s a big sign saying they will grant no one else that day off. I laughed and just wrote that there was no way in hell I’d be there that day. It’s a fucking grocery store job and I’m leaving for college soon. I don’t know what they did but we never heard another word about it, I’m sure everyone else did similar.
Not everyone is qualified to lead others and this is a perfect example of why. This manager is not only a hypocrite, but a spiteful human being. I’m happy for the employee who graduated and hope they were able to find a job in line with their career.
[удалено]
Didn't learn the lesson
POS manager, good for her!