We have to fill out 'Display Screen Equipment Evaluations'. The DSE thing is a checklist that basicly seeks to identify any health and safety issues in your immediate workplace, be it from non-flame retardant fabrics in your carpet to glare off your desktop to repeatative tasks in your daily job. When I had my wrist trouble a month or two ago, I was given a brief cursory DSE Evaluation by the office's expert in such things, but was promised a more thorough one once I'd moved into my new home on the first floor. Well, that never materialized. When I got back from holiday, I was told the evaluation would take place for the entire team, sometime this week. I was off sick tuesday and wednesday. The evaluation took place on one of those days. So, today, during a lull in the action, I decided to fill out my evaluation form on my own. This was perfectly acceptible and not against the rules. We'd all been told that although the things weren't due until the end of the quarter, the sooner they were done the better. I handed mine in to my boss's in tray, and went back to work. She came down to return it to me some time later, then challenged me as to why I'd filled it out in the first place. I said because I'd been sick on the day when the office expert came round to do the evaluation for everyone else. Boss said that yes, but the expert was still going to do an evaluation for me, hadn't I read the email? I said the only email I got said she was going to do the evaluation for the whole team, and I'd missed that by being sick. Boss replied that I'd been told she'd come back to do a special evaluation for me. No I hadn't. Supervisor immediately chimed in to say that was probably her fault (turns out it wasn't, but she's an apologetic kind of woman, bless her), and that no one had told me the expert would come back. Boss changed tactics, and said she was unhappy with the 'very sarcastic way' in which I'd filled out my form. I querried this, and my response to a question on document holders was brought to our attention. I'd said that a document holder was not available, but added in the comments section that one was "supposedly on order". Now, okay, bad choice of words, but to my knowledge they'd been on order for months and never materialized. Turns out they'd arrived while i was on holiday, and Boss insisted I should have known that, at least before filling the form out like I did. Now, I apologized for causing any offense or upset, insisted I'd not intended to do anything wrong, and basicly just took whatever she threw at me as calmly as possible. In the end, after I'd deemed that sufficient repeatitions of the 'why did you get me angry' 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry' 'but then why did you get me upset' 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you either' cycle, I threw my hands up and said 'Look, never mind, I'm sorry this happened and I'll wait for [expert] now.' Boss then left. The next half hour before the office closed was taken up with the three other members of my team (all of whom witnessed this whole thing) expressing disbelief that any manager would give an employee such a 'bollocking' in front of anyone else, apologizing to me for not having passed on the message that hte expert would return to evaluate my workstation, and reassuring me that if i wanted to vent that it would be okay. But that was just it... I said that I was just saddened that my manager clearly disliked me so much (which resulted in a side discussion to explain to the supervisor, who's new, that yes, Boss does indeed dislike me and no, none of us can figure out why) and that I couldn't do anything about it. I was praised at one point for how generous I've been in the past when discussing the situation with co-workers and volunteering that the communication difficulties between us must be at least partially my fault. public opinion seemed to be that they were entirely the boss's now. But still, why vent? I don't feel the need to yell or shout because my boss behaved badly. I don't even feel particularly 'bollocked' by it. I've had far worse from my dad than any middle manager would ever dare to utter. I kept insisting 'there isn't anything to do about it, so lets just get on with the work.' I am convinced that Boss doesn't like me. I genuinely don't know why, as I've been a good employee. I don't seem to be able to remedy the situation, and I have talked to Boss directly about it in the past with no positive end result in the long term. I took this as a lesson in endurance: what else can you do in a situation where you cannot affect a possitive change.
If it really doesn't follow you home, you're probably doing the right thing. Kudos. I'd be horrible at this. I really would. (And again I have no idea what you could do.) At least your slightly buddhistic behaviour seems to have gotten you the colleagues' respect.
well, it does follow me home, in that its never nice to know that someone dislikes you. and i'm inclined to think it was my boss's piss poor display of workplace protocols by singling me out in front of other people who weren't remotely concerned that will win them to my side, rather than my response. ah well.
its not the beard. the first time Boss saw me clean shaven, she burst out laughing. whenever that gets pointed out, she rushes in a fluster to point out that she was laughing because she didn't recognize me, but the reader is left to form their own opinions.
