Time Sensitive
New in town with very little savings, I needed cash fast so I went to a temp agency. I was excited when they offered me a temp-to-hire position as a data entry clerk for a large mortgage company. I arrived for my first day at 7:45 a.m. at a sprawling corporate complex and got very confused as to exactly where I was supposed to be, as no one had told me there were multiple buildings. Finding my new supervisor at exactly 8 a.m., I was icily informed that “Eight a.m. means at your desk and working at 8am, not walking in the door at 8 a.m.” We were off to an excellent start.
My new boss brightened quickly however and began gushing about what a wonderful place this was to work, going on and on about the elaborate Christmas party the company held each year. It was early July, so I wasn’t sure why all the emphasis on Christmas, but whatever. We arrived at our area and I was shown a desk where a woman was already sitting. A second computer had been placed at the edge of the desk with a folding chair. I incorrectly assumed that this would be a temporary spot for me for training and/or until they found me a desk of my own, but oh no, I was to be permanently wedged into this tiny corner, on a chair that soon sent shooting pains through my lower back.
This was a mammoth mortgage company that did billions of dollars worth of business each year. My department’s job was to deal with one specific form that would be faxed over from brokers. We’d call up the loan number in the database and enter the information from the form. Simple enough, except there could not be any blanks. If there were blanks on the form, we had to call the broker to ask for the information. At least 80% of the forms had at least one question left blank, so there were a lot of phone calls to cranky brokers who tried to ask me questions I could not answer. When I said where I was calling from, it was very common to hear “Oh thank God! I’ve been on hold with your customer service people for an hour!” And then they’d ask a question I couldn’t possibly answer. It should be noted that not one single aspect of the mortgage industry was explained to me, so I didn’t actually understand what information I was asking for nor could I answer even the most basic question. Neither could I transfer calls to customer service as that was a separate phone number. The brokers I called got understandably very, very upset with me.
Then there was my desk mate: A loud, harried woman who wore heavy perfume and proffered the opinion that it was “disgraceful” that I was unmarried at my age (I was 25) and tried to fix me up with her 19-year-old son. I declined. This woman never, ever, ever shut up and had a loud, braying laugh like a donkey. When I asked if we could move our single telephone so it was between us so I wouldn’t have to stand and reach awkwardly over here to make those horrible phone calls, she barked “No!” and proceeded to complain about having to share her desk with me, as if it was my fault.
Then there were the breaks. Or rather, the lack of breaks. Several times a week we were given the “opportunity” to work through lunch and then get lunch for free. “Lunch” consisted of a single slice of plain cheese pizza, which was cold by the time it got to you. Technically, you could insist on taking your proper lunch break, which I did once, but I was the only one who did not take them up on their oh-so-generous cold pizza and they acted as if I had spat in the CEO’s face. Also, we had to get permission from our team leader to use the bathroom, which was humiliating and ridiculous.
All this was for a whopping $8 per hour–barely above minimum wage. Eventually I found a retail job offering $10 per hour and quit the evil mortgage company via voicemail without giving notice.
Asking to take bathrom breaks is like the height of humilation. Had a job that made me do that once.
I don’t see any reason for a company to require their employees to beg to go pee except to keep mental control of them. That’s ridiculous (especially for people like me with tiny bladders).
but the opportunities to exploit asking for a bathroom break can be so fun! If I have to have permission like a child, I might act like one. Waiting for the enforcer to come out of the bathroom is a good option. “Can I get up and make peepee? Or did you make a stinky and I should wait? I don’t like to smell poopie!” I dunno, I like to be inappropriate to people that don’t deserve it.
sounds really horrible, and I’ve worked in shitty offices so I understand. However, I have yet to work for a place that makes you ask to use the toilet, which is just as well since I belong to the Itty Bitty Bladder Club.
I too have had jobs where the length of restroom breaks were monitored. It’s horrible. What am I supposed to do…bring a note in from the Indian food restaurant from the night before?
I’m surprised that they took you on, given that you know little about the mortgage business. I’m, at the very least, surprised that they gave you the task that they did.
Also, I believe it’s a legal requirement here to have at least a half-hour break for each 4 hours that you work. For them to be all hoity-toity about that and the bathroom break thing… those are definite deal-breakers for me.
Is everyone kidding me? This seems like the worst employee nightmare ever. First off, it’s your first day, why would you show up exactly on time? That was a mistake on your part. Your job was just to call brokers for information and sometimes they asked you a question you couldn’t answer? boo hoo. The lady you shared a station with tried to set you up with her son? boo hoo. You got free lunch if you wanted it? boo hoo. This sounded like a really good temp job to me, and then you had the audacity to quit via voicemail? I don’t even know you, but from this story I wouldn’t hire you for any job.
Oh, and I’ll add, that I don’t think it’s that bad to have to let someone know when you’re going to use the restroom. A lot of managers would like to know if someone is at their desk if they needed to transfer a phone call. It would look really unprofessional if they transferred you a call from a broken and were on hold for 10 minutes because you went to the bathroom. It’s reasonable to me that employee needs to make sure that when they leave their station it’s an ok time to do so.
Tanek, here’s how you transfer a call if you want to be sure someone is there. Ready?
“Sir/Madam, if you hold for just one moment, I will check to see if OP is available to take your call.” Put them on hold. Open another line and call OP. “OP, I have Sir/Madam on the phone. Are you available to speak with them?” Hang up. Open the line on hold. “Sir/Madam, unfortunately, OP is not at his/her desk. I can transfer you to his/her voicemail or take a message myself. How can I assist you?”
You need at least two lines to transfer anyway. It baffles me that people who don’t know standard office etiquette start throwing stones in their glass house o’ bullshit.
You do not need to inform ANYONE of your bodily functions except your doctor. There is absolutely no reasonable excuse for that policy. If it is an emergency, you shouldn’t have to check with anyone. Your boss is not your keeper in the western world.
Also, are you just trolling these? Holy reading comprehension issues. The OP WROTE that he or she showed up 15 minutes early.
Tanek, stop trolling.
In addition to what Claire said the OP called brokers to ask for information. The brokers then asked the OP questions when they got fed up with customer support giving them the runaround. The questions were what customer support was trained to answer, not the OP.
Hey Tanek, that’s totally cool, because I would never work for you anyway.
I’m audacious like that.
And you’re damn right I had the audacity to quit via voicemail
Yeah she sound like a b*tch boss. who would wanna work for u? I pity the fool! N E way i agree this job sux. i remember my b*tch boss would look for me even if I thought of using the bathroom! she was so anal !!!
Tanek, let me use my can of “Troll-B-Gone” on you. Shoo troll, dont bother me.
You sound like a crappy boss to work for anyway that stuck in outdated management methods of power and control. You will never gain the buy-in and respect of your employee’s that way, go read Jack Welch
“i remember my b*tch boss would look for me even if I thought of using the bathroom! she was so anal !!!”
hahahaha, was this intentional? Either way, this was awesome.
There’s no way that everyone can really be this stupid. This is the SECOND time people yelled at me for reading comprehension and were completely incorrect. It’s only like 200 words in the entire post, you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard, but here’s the EXACT quote once again showing how stupid some commenters are:
” Finding my new supervisor at exactly 8 a.m., I was icily informed that “Eight a.m. means at your desk and working at 8am, not walking in the door at 8 a.m.””
And yes, actually it is highly unprofessional to put someone on hold to see if OP is available when she’s not. And then put them on hold again to see if someone else is there, and then again and again. It is more professional to know where your employees are when you’re in a work environment so that you can best assist customers. Also, what day and age do we live in now that every trip to the bathroom constitutes an “emergency”? In the situation of a real emergency, I think that she would have been allowed to use the restroom.
She was a crappy employee and I called it like I saw it, not sure how that makes me a troll. However, I do appreciate the 5 trolls that took their time to call me one, that really helped contribute to the conversation.
Tanek–you accuse us of reading comprehension problems? Hypocrite.
“I arrived for my first day at 7:45 a.m. at a sprawling corporate complex and got very confused as to exactly where I was supposed to be, as no one had told me there were multiple buildings.”
She wasn’t told which building to report to, which lead to this…
“Finding my new supervisor at exactly 8 a.m., I was icily informed that “Eight a.m. means at your desk and working at 8am, not walking in the door at 8 a.m.”
She was not a crappy employee.
Oh and BTW, if you want to see some professional trolls to take tips from, head on over to the World of Warcraft forums. At least they get some chuckles from their posts.
Standing outside the building wondering how to get in and where you’re going to be working 15 minutes before you’re supposed to start does not mean you’re on time. Being in front of your supervisor, ready to go, means that you’re ready to go. And it’s pretty common that you show up early on your first day, and early means that your not sitting in the parking lot 15 minutes before you’re supposed to start. And if you’re not familiar with the location, it’s your responsibility to ask if there is special parking, a pass necessary to get in, which office to go to, etc. I’m amazed that so many people seem to not understand the very basics of job protocal.
As for the trolling I still don’t really understand. If I don’t comment saying “OMG OMG OMG THIS LIKE IS LIKE THE WORSTEST MOST HORRIBLE JOB EVER! OMG EVERYTHING U SAID WAS SOOOOOO TRUE YOU POOR BABY” then I’m a troll? Sheesh, get real!
Our bad. You’re right – you’re not a troll.
You’re an asshole with an intense reading comprehension issue. Problem solved, everyone.
“And yes, actually it is highly unprofessional to put someone on hold to see if OP is available when she’s not. And then put them on hold again to see if someone else is there, and then again and again. It is more professional to know where your employees are when you’re in a work environment so that you can best assist customers.”
No. It’s not. Ask any person who has been put on hold for two seconds ever when getting transfered anywhere. You see, sometimes we even call big corporations with multiple departments like the one described in the original post where you would presume that all 500 employees with phones aren’t telling every other person with a phone line whether they’re at their desks. Cute straw argument though, moron.
“Also, what day and age do we live in now that every trip to the bathroom constitutes an ‘emergency’?”
So funny story, some people have IBS. Other people get diarrhea. Some women get pregnant and have to go to the bathroom often as they have a fetus kicking their bladder. Older people get “sudden urges” (true story, there are even COMMERCIALS ABOUT THIS CONDITION).
Just because you don’t have excrement issues doesn’t mean you get to be an asshole to anyone else. And shocker, if it’s not any of the boss’ fucking business, it sure isn’t yours.
Claire, your irrational anger is most amusing.
I’m sure that whereever you work your boss appreciates the fact that every 10 minutes you take a 5 minute bathroom break and then when they ask for an explanation you go apeshit on them yelling about people with all sorts of random diseases. If you have a “serious” issue like the ones you’re suggested it is also common protocal to let your employer (or HR) know. Otherwise, you risk complications with the fact that you’re never at your desk and always in the bathroom. It’s just common work etiquette, it’s so simple. And again with the reading comprehension, yet not a single person has ACCURATELY mentioned anything I misstated.
And actually one of the things that’s really been pissing me off about big corporations is getting transfered from department to department. I wish people like you Claire would get out of the crapper and do your jobs so I wouldn’t have to be on hold for 45 minutes every time I call.
That’s because you haven’t misstated anything Tanek. You just read the story with blinders on and picked the parts of the story you liked. Then you ignored everything else in the story that explained why this was a MVWJ. This is where your reading comprehension issue comes up.
Then you just state repeatedly that this story is telling the exact opposite of what it set out to do by calling up your previous points and ignoring all the explanations.
You are a troll.
Oh my goodness, I’m so amused that my story is causing this kind of argument. Tanek, if you want to blame me for the fact that arriving 15 minutes early was not enough time, that’s your prerogative, and if you think full grown adults should need permission to use the bathroom, well you’re certainly entitled to that opinion. Luckily for me I do not require your approval in any way, so it’s fine with me if you want to call me the bad guy here. Actually it might be a little creepy if we were on the same side, because you really sound like a jerk. But here’s a friendly suggestion that you take up yoga or buy a puppy or something, because if you are this bitter over a website post that is supposed to be lighthearted and funny, I shudder to think about what the rest of your life must be like. Have a nice day!