What are you lot like to work with?

[23 Daves]

I've been a regular poster on Verbwhores for five years now, and throughout that time members have come and gone, slipped on and huffed off, or simply faded away.  One thing has been constant throughout that time on General Discussion, though- it is standard for everyone to whine about their office co-workers (if they actually work and aren't students or filthy dirty scroungers, that is).

What you hear less about, however, is what the forum members themselves are like to work with.  Taking information from the posts alone, you'd be inclined to think that all Verbwhores are dry, witty, intelligent sources of all knowledge, and that they're often misunderstood by their dumb colleagues – like Tim out of The Office crossed with Oscar Wilde.  Which causes me to wonder... what do you think your colleagues would say about you if they were posting to an Internet forum?  And what do you honestly think you're like to work with?  Do you have serious communication issues, are you impatient, or are you generally well rounded and well liked?

For myself, I'd say that I'm probably seen as being a bit quiet, but generally not disliked, though I know people are slow to warm to me.  And I also know that I've been described as being absurdly patient with people who are being patently unreasonable, and also good at defusing situations.  I'm considered reasonably easy to talk to as well, but probably my perceived flaws are that I can be grumpy (I was called a "grumpy old man" this week for complaining about the heat), unwilling to engage with a lot of the office trivia about football and Big Brother and such, which makes me seem a bit sneery rather than disinterested (which is the actual problem) and not terribly good or efficient at dealing with things that seem like long-winded beauracratic diversions.  

What about you?  I refuse to believe that everyone here is a shining dynamo.  It cannot be true.

[The Culture Bunker]

Well, I'm probably a nightmare to work with. Some of them would doubtless say I'm surly, bad tempered and sarcastic while I'd like to think others would say 'He's allright, useful for useless bits of football trvia and borrowing DVDs of 80s shows from."

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Most people who've worked with me would say I'm very quiet and quite rude when I actually say anything. The people that I worked closely with would say I'm the exact opposite. Which is probably the same outside of work too.

That said- I'm very reliable and hard-working so most people I work with are happy letting me walk around sighing and looking like I want to be somewhere else.

[the midnight watch baboon]

Speaking as a doley, I'm perfect to work with. When I Was 'gainfully' employed, I swung through the moodometer quite drastically, being either ridiculous, sarky, a good laugh or sullen, rude and offensive if the others were banging on about BigfuckingBrother, work or hilarious tales of their pissed-up nights out. I worked with animals and preferred to chat to them, mostly.

[Murdo]

Most people who've worked with me would say I'm very quiet and quite rude when I actually say anything. The people that I worked closely with would say I'm the exact opposite. Which is probably the same outside of work too.

That said- I'm very reliable and hard-working so most people I work with are happy letting me walk around sighing and looking like I want to be somewhere else.

Snap! Apart from the whole hard-working bit. I tend to do my best George Costanza impression i.e looking flustered, always in a hurry, bad-tempered, head in hands, really messy desk, muttering etc. thus creating the impression of being every bit the hard working company man that I am so completely not. I spend a lot of my time paranoid that my collegues are well aware of this sham, the cunts.

[Carlos Tevez]

Never worked but I'm probably easy to work with.

[gazzyk1ns]

For myself, I'd say that I'm probably seen as being a bit quiet

Same here. It dawned on me after a good few months that the other office people thought I was a bit of a weirdo recluse, in one of my jobs. One day I overheard a few people talking about going to a club after work and I shouted "Yeah I'm up for that, what time are you getting there?" across the room, to be met with surprised noises. See, whenever they'd asked me to come out with them previously, I'd instantly said "No thanks.". They thought it was because I didn't like going out, or because I thought they might be a bit rowdy for my liking, or whatever else similar. But of course the truth was that I was going out (or doing something else) with my own friends, and that the idea of a night out with pepole I happened to work with didn't appeal to me. The same goes for a lot of things really, like if I'm asked "What music do you like?" by a workmate I don't know too well I'll just say "Oh... all sorts, really..."; firstly because that's true, and secondly because an accurate answer would take ages and bore the other person. But it probably comes across as some sort of question-dodging excuse, so they must think I don't really like any music, or like "unfashionable" stuff and am ashamed.

I've never really even been proper friends with anyone I've worked with in an office, I used to put my work hat on and try to get 9-5 over and done with, with the least amount of hassle. I'd probably adopt a different approach now, I've not worked in an office since... er, early 2003 I think. I don't think I ever properly got out of the school-leaver's attitude to office work really, i.e. keep quiet and get your job done. Very immature and short-sighted, it's only since I (temporarily, probably) decided I'd had enough with office work that I've realised my mistakes.

[Oscar]

On the whole people I work with act as if they think I'm hypa-organised and capable, which I've always found strange, since I'm so patently not those things.
My last boss called me "moody" because I got annoyed about not getting holiday pay and never finishing on time. My last boss but one hated me, but we had got on pretty well until he started quoting The Daily Mail at me as evidence  that all immigrants are dirty lazy bastards. This was especially odd, because he was from Poland.
So to sum up: the people who think I'm great are wrong. And the people who think I'm a wanker are wrong.
I expect I'm somewhere in between the two - cheerful and pretty competent, but also an argumentative fucker.

[hencole]

'He spent his whole day looking at a blue screen, the lazy fucker.'

[Partridge's Love Child]

Ask Purple Tenpeg.  I've discover that I get quite grumpy when racist South Africans find it impossible to Shut.  The.  Fuck.  Up.

[23 Daves]

[I've never really even been proper friends with anyone I've worked with in an office, I used to put my work hat on and try to get 9-5 over and done with.

Well, it's fair enough, isn't it?  I've worked with some people I believe probably are very interesting - one of my ex-co-workers here ended up giving everything up to go and live on a barge, for example - but when you go down the pub with them, they still talk about work.  And I believe discussing work outside paid time and into drinking hours is a cardinal sin, unless there's some absolutely huge scandal going on (and there never is, it's always about some imagined slight).

I used to try and stay quiet about my thoughts and opinions in the workplace, but these days I've got much more honest, and to my surprise I find people (or at least people here) don't mind that much.  They might disagree with you, but I think it causes them to treat you with less suspicion.  There are quite a few people here I could happily drink with now.

[the midnight watch baboon]

Taht's the worst thing- people banging on about work outside of work hours.. I left last job by 'mutual consent' (went mental) and met up with some of the lads from there a few months' later, and they still went on and on about who's getting promotions, who's a workshy twat et al. I couln't care less bout all that guff even when I worked there, let alone several months after I left. Sheesh! kebab.

[Partridge's Love Child]

And I believe discussing work outside paid time and into drinking hours is a cardinal sin, unless there's some absolutely huge scandal going on (and there never is, it's always about some imagined slight).

Sleight.  And you a writer as well.

Indeed, talking about your job outside of the work place should be deeply frowned upon.  In my old house my flatmate introduced a rule than any talk of work would be punished by being forced to clean the windows.  It was a cunning ploy to make my other flatmate stop talking about people we didn't know and issues we weren't interested in.

When people ask me "what do you do?" I never tell them, and internally chalk them up as a dullard.

[Mister Cairo]

I'm OK but I like to be left to get on with my job. I don't  like working as a team, I like working on my own. Generally I won't want to talk much to people until I know them fairly well.


My last job, I didn't really talk to many people there. The ones before (voluntary) I got on with quite a few.

[Purple Tentacle]

Ask Partridge's Brownlove Child. I tend to scream in frothing fury when nagging wives won't shut the fuck up about the fact I'm running behind schedule, or 19 year old girls need me to pay for a taxi.


At normal work I'm pretty popular, yes.
I've tragically one of the veterans at the bloody company, and have the air of cynicism that you get with those poor bastards. I've managed to corner all the video/visual/technical sides of the company into my sole domain, so I'm also one of those people who know they are the only one who knows how to do certain jobs, and so have the horrible arrogance that comes with knowing that people will panic without me there.

As a result I sit in the corner of the office with headphones on, although I will happily speak when spoken to. The office is 80% female though, and as a man of moderate to poor looks, I don't join in the screeching banter as much as I probably should.

[Banana Woofwoof]

In the past, I've been grumpy and cynical because I hated my colleagues and they more than reciprocated, until I left the company and almost sued, with the backing of my boss.

After that job, I was very quiet to work with and kept myself to myself.  But it's a year a later now.

So now, I think I'm quite chatty, somewhat bossy because the only person in this place with the skills to my job is me, quiet when left alone plugged into earphones and annoying because I do my work very quickly indeed, so spent 80% of the day skiving.  

My team is tiny, though, because we're closing down.  There's some people I get on very well with and will talk to, and others I'm very professional with and keep contact to a minimum.  I guess I'm polite, mostly, but friendly*.

I really like the people I work with, and it's possibly the first job I ever have done.  I'm surprised at how much I've changed.  I was almost silent in my other jobs, and the only words out of me would be an ill-timed quip when everyone else was chatting, and I felt left out.  Tumbleweed.  I felt like a dick. It's much better now because I like the people, I actually want to do stuff and help everyone.

I'm the youngest in the entire place by a considerable distance (well, 8 years til the next one) so I think they're a bit protective.

I'm a temp, though, therefore dispensible, but since the company is closing, no-one's all cold and "You did this" etc etc.  They are nice so I am nice back.  


*(People will testify that I am friendly and energetic like a dog, but sometimes rude, therefore extremely, extremely irritating)

[Marv Orange]

I'm a surly maverick in the woekplace.

[Four Eyes]

It depends. If I'm on kiosk then I'll be nice and polite to everyone, but a bit slow, because there's not much to do. If I'm on a till I'll still be polite, but I go so super-fast when scanning and packing that customers get the impression that I want to get through as many as possible in a day, as if I get paid on comission or something, so they frown at me and say I'm bad.

If I'm supervising, however, it's a whole different ballgame. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I am the best supervisor we currently have on staff. Most other people seem to think that 'supervising' means standing around watching everyone else work, but not me! I do baskets, pack shopping, clean bins and tills, cash up whilst still listening out for any problems on tills, I do it all. You'd be very lucky to shop in my supermarket when I'm on duty.

I think most of the people I work with like me, and I'm just jokey enough that people will talk to me if we're both trapped in the canteen at break. The checkout staff like me because I respond quickly when their bells ring, and usually have the solution to their problem.

To sum up - I am GREAT.

[Gazeuse]

I'm workaholic, bad communicator, ill disciplined, badly organised, grumpy old sod.

Apart from that, I'm quite nice to work with.

[imitationleather]

If I ever get a job I'll tell you!

[weekender]

I'm always trying to make bad puns for my own amusement.  I'm also difficult to get to know, but once you've got used to me you realise I'm alright really.

I speak my mind too much, which often gets me in trouble.  I'm apparently very good at explaining things, and ensuring people understand what they're doing - if they don't they feel more than able to ask me questions without fear of being judged.  I'm responsible for training four people at the moment, as well as training people for the exams we have to take AND coaching people to get Institue of Customer Service awards.  Occasionally I get some work done.

I'm incredibly well-organised, my desk is always clear, and I have a not unfair reputation for being a geek - I can remember phone numbers, factors to be used in calculations, full details of member cases we deal with etc. I also have a decent knowledge of computer issues.

I also swear a lot, which often gets me in trouble.  I can be quite petulant and reactive, especially if I don't get my own way.  However, I'm usually - though admittedly not always - right, and my work is the best on the team, which has been backed up by statistics.  I'm one of the only people in the office that our actuaries respect, which takes some doing.

My main strength is that I get things done. I might not be the nicest of people to have banal chat with throughout the day, but if you want something doing you ask me, and I make sure it gets done.  I'm also one of the most experienced people on our team, and so have the horrible arrogance that comes with knowing that people will panic without me there.

In summary, I've become so valuable to the company that a lot of the time I can speak my mind without major fallout.  It shocks people when I first work with them, but they ultimately realise that I want to do a good job and am not actually a complete rude obnoxious moody bastard.  I'm probably getting promoted again as well, as I have made a conscious effort to be nicer to people following me giving up drinking on schooldays (which is failing at the moment because of the football).

[Ambient Sheep]

And I believe discussing work outside paid time and into drinking hours is a cardinal sin, unless there's some absolutely huge scandal going on (and there never is, it's always about some imagined slight).

Sleight.  And you a writer as well.

Nope, I'm pretty damn sure it's "slight".  In fact I'd be 100% sure, were it not the fact it was you.  The only thing you use "sleight" for is for describing magicians and such who have good "sleight of hand".

[Hugo Rune]

Sleight:

[*]A skillful use of the hands or body
[*]A trick or deception
[*]A cunning, underhand method of reaching an end[/list]

Slight:

[*]Small, insignificant
[*]Negligent
[*]Dismissive, to make light of
[*]To treat with disrespect[/list]

Hmmm... it seems to me that a case could be made for the use of either word in your sentence.

I manage a branch of a well-known academic bookseller and bear an uncanny resemblance to Bernard Black in appearance and manner, so I should know.

I scare the shit out of my colleagues. My area manager never visits the shop and I ignore all the memos from Head Office. I once reduced my staff to tears but on the whole we have a jolly old time fannying about with skeletons, propelling ourselves along on our chairs like Davros and seeing what we can shove up into the air conditioner to get sliced by the fan.

To say that my job is taxing would be an overstatement: the paperwork's done by 10am, which leaves seven-and-a-half hours of soul-destroying, grinding tedium to fill.

Still, at least my job gives me a 30% discount on any book I purchase, which is reason enough for me to stay.

In my book.



(Note to my employers: obviously I'm just kidding. My working day is the most life-affirming part of my week. I have grown as a person because of you. I learn more with every working day. I bless the day you offered me your bountiful teat to suckle upon etc. etc.)

[thomasina]

I'm lovely to work with, except when I'm hungry and/or have PMT.    My two closest workmates are lovely too, except when they go on a cleaning/tidying up binge.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I'm lovely to work with, except when I'm hungry and/or have PMT

Well that isn't a helpful comment. I'm now wondering what percentage of the time you're hungry and have PMT. And for no particularly reason I'm wondering whether there's a connection between PMT and appetite. You're a fucking trouble-causer aren't you?!!

[thomasina]

I'm lovely to work with, except when I'm hungry and/or have PMT

Well that isn't a helpful comment. I'm now wondering what percentage of the time you're hungry and have PMT. And for no particularly reason I'm wondering whether there's a connection between PMT and appetite. You're a fucking trouble-causer aren't you?!!

The PMT pnly comes every few months and usually just for a day or so.  The hunger comes every day at about 12.30, but doesn't morph into fury unless lunch is dealyed for more than an hour after that.  Unless it's a PMT day.  I think PMT makes you more sensitive to feeling your blood sugar levels dropping, rather than making you hungrier as such.

The thing about PMT is that you are completely unaware at the time that your rage has no rational cause.  You just think that everyone is being wilfully stupid and obstructive.   If you suspect that a workmate has PMT, never suggest that to them while they actually have it, as this is extremely dangerous.

[23 Daves]

I manage a branch of a well-known academic bookseller and bear an uncanny resemblance to Bernard Black in appearance and manner, so I should know.

It's astonishing how many book store owners do, I find.  Oh, you might not get the whole physical package, but certainly I've bumped into many a drunken, eccentric, bumptious man behind the counter in a bookstore.  One man in a bookstore in Rye even told me to "get out" forty minutes before closing time, than slammed and locked the door behind me.  I was too busy laughing to mind.

I reckon I could quite enjoy being a manager of a bookstore, but what sort of training do you need?  And what's the pay like?  And does it really involve doing very little all day apart from reading books and sighing whenever a customer comes in wanting to be served?

[Gazeuse]

The PMT pnly comes every few months.

That's not normal.

[Jack Shaftoe]

The pay is reasonable if you're manager of one of the bigger chain bookstores, but what the job actually involves these days is fending off idiotic promotion ideas from Head Office and trying to work out which fifty percent of your staff are stealing things today. Also seeing the twenty reps a day that wander in an try and get you to buy their list of Mind Body and Spirit books or historical crime serieseses.

On the plus side, the chances are your staff are as bright and socially maladjusted as yourself, and oddly enough, most customers look up to bookshop staff, at least in comparison to other retail staff. Of course, if you're the manager you'll have to deal with the stroppier ones, but these are easily fobbed off if you're louche and charming and chuck them a free book voucher.

Oh, and you will get fifty CV's a day from public school kids who want a nice dossy summer job. You will be tempted to sleep with the A-level ones, and fuck it, go for it frankly.

Hope that helps.

[MissInformed]

And I believe discussing work outside paid time and into drinking hours is a cardinal sin, unless there's some absolutely huge scandal going on (and there never is, it's always about some imagined slight).

Sleight.  And you a writer as well.

Nope, I'm pretty damn sure it's "slight".  In fact I'd be 100% sure, were it not the fact it was you.  The only thing you use "sleight" for is for describing magicians and such who have good "sleight of hand".

Slight - and I AM 100% sure. Words are my "thing" and my boyfriend is like a walking thesaurus and he agrees, slight is most apt.