I've been a contract worker at a large company for almost a year. I like my boss a lot, generally speaking- but today he yelled at me and totally freaked me out. He threatened to fire me. I've never even seen him angry.
And the thing is - I think his anger was irrational. He works from home most of the time and I am always at the office. The office is consolidating into a smaller space and we are getting rid of some stuff. I am stuck cleaning things up, even though it really shouldn't be my job. There is nobody else to do it, so I do it. Yesterday he emailed the junk removers were coming to get the refrigerator in an hour. I emailed back that there was still food in it. I thought about it for a minute, and then I went over and cleaned it out. Meanwhile, my manager asked somebody else to clean it out. I ran into them on their way over and told them it was done.
So he was angry that I cleaned out the refrigerator and didn't wait to see what he was going to do about it. He told me that I had displayed bad judgment and made him look like a fool.
I was speechless. He said he was going to write it all up and we could meet in person tomorrow. I said no, lets resolve this now. I got some privacy and called him back. It seemed like he wanted to have a fight with me. I told him some things he did that frustrated me, like saying he would be coming over to the office and then not showing up. He blamed his diabetes, and he blamed his higher ups. I do think that if his blood sugar is off he gets irritable. But you can't say that.
In the end the conversation turned and he told me the things he appreciated about me as an employee. I reminded him that he threatened to fire me an hour ago.
During some parts of this conversation I was talking loudly and sobbing. People were looking into the office at me. Afterwards only one person asked me what was going on and I told him the truth. Later in the day I found out from another co-worker that my manager once punched a hole in the wall in his office in a fit of rage. I saw the hole, and that's what it looked like. I'm just glad I didn't ask him about it.
Now I feel off balance. I am afraid of offending him.
My head hurts and I feel like I've been slugged in the gut.
Alice
And the thing is - I think his anger was irrational. He works from home most of the time and I am always at the office. The office is consolidating into a smaller space and we are getting rid of some stuff. I am stuck cleaning things up, even though it really shouldn't be my job. There is nobody else to do it, so I do it. Yesterday he emailed the junk removers were coming to get the refrigerator in an hour. I emailed back that there was still food in it. I thought about it for a minute, and then I went over and cleaned it out. Meanwhile, my manager asked somebody else to clean it out. I ran into them on their way over and told them it was done.
So he was angry that I cleaned out the refrigerator and didn't wait to see what he was going to do about it. He told me that I had displayed bad judgment and made him look like a fool.
I was speechless. He said he was going to write it all up and we could meet in person tomorrow. I said no, lets resolve this now. I got some privacy and called him back. It seemed like he wanted to have a fight with me. I told him some things he did that frustrated me, like saying he would be coming over to the office and then not showing up. He blamed his diabetes, and he blamed his higher ups. I do think that if his blood sugar is off he gets irritable. But you can't say that.
In the end the conversation turned and he told me the things he appreciated about me as an employee. I reminded him that he threatened to fire me an hour ago.
During some parts of this conversation I was talking loudly and sobbing. People were looking into the office at me. Afterwards only one person asked me what was going on and I told him the truth. Later in the day I found out from another co-worker that my manager once punched a hole in the wall in his office in a fit of rage. I saw the hole, and that's what it looked like. I'm just glad I didn't ask him about it.
Now I feel off balance. I am afraid of offending him.
My head hurts and I feel like I've been slugged in the gut.
Alice
(hugs)
