Thursday, July 28, 2011

How Do You Deal With A Horrible Boss?

This has been a long week for me, Edsters…the kind when I find myself drinking coffee three times a day, but never quite finding time for dinner. Where I’m constantly running, but I never feel like I completely accomplish anything.

Things have been awesome at the mag. The other Web interns and I have finished building all the new articles/slide shows/etc. for the last issue, but we’re also trying to organize everything for the new slew of interns who are about to replace us. Basically, we’re trying to think of everything we wish we would have known coming in and figuring out the best way to make sure all the future webbies know them. Not to mention, with the September issue fast approaching, things are about to get even busier. But the mag isn’t my source of stress. No, it’s somewhere else.

It’s in my part-time job as counter help in some division of food service. Okay, so it’s not a significant job—just something little to get me through the weeks. Lately, though, I feel like it’s been my New York initiation. My boss is a terrific jerk. While he’s at work, he finds no fault in screaming at us in front of a store full of customers. You’ll have to trust me on this, Edsters, since I can’t tell you the specifics on what he’s yelling about…but they’re always stupid rants. I’ve seen customers walk out of the store because of his behavior. I’ve had customers apologize to me on his behalf because he was so rude. And when he’s not in the store? He’s at home watching the security cameras from his laptop…calling in to the store about every 10 minutes to yell at us. I’m really not exaggerating at all.

I thought about quitting because the way he treats us is so incredibly disrespectful that it’s almost degrading to stand for, but three things are keeping me employed.

1. I get to eat every week (haha).

2. I’m proving to myself that this is a temporary means to get where I want to go—that I’m strong enough to deal with a New York jerk.

3. Apparently he tends to stiff you your last week or two of pay if you quit your job. Ya, I’m not kidding. I guess some people are considering legal action.

So, while it’s not the end of the world, that’s been unnecessarily frustrating as of late. But if that’s the worst of my New York experiences, I’m definitely not going to complain. I’ve been trying to clench my teeth when he yells at me for doing something today he taught me to do yesterday. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay silent all summer, but we’ll see how that one goes.

Have you ever dealt with a terrible boss? I know I’ll have to keep some type of side work for quite a while until I can hope to make it big in the magazine industry—I think it’s the nature of the situation. It’s probably good, though, because it’ll help make connections with unexpected people outside of the magazine world. But back to terrible bosses, how’d you deal with yours, Edsters? I’d love to hear it!

For now,
Ed's Web Intern

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