tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post3441500146651183012..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Dealing with horrible bossesBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1933433561936944782014-10-10T14:23:44.779-07:002014-10-10T14:23:44.779-07:00As a former PA I've had my share of horrible b...As a former PA I've had my share of horrible bosses. I've actually had one tell me as I was quitting and let it be known it was because of their behavior, "I'll make sure you never work in this town again". I was so shocked that someone actually trotted out this old cliche that I laughed in their face, in their office. I then walked out and continued to work and cross paths with them for 4 years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-20514337450311828462014-10-09T18:38:24.683-07:002014-10-09T18:38:24.683-07:00In her later years, my mother, bored with watching...In her later years, my mother, bored with watching game shows and soaps, took a half-day job in an office, and was home by 1 PM every day, But her boss was still working and she got those "Where is my...?" calls every few minutes the rest of the day. I'd hear stuff like "Look on the right side of the phone. Yes, there it is." (Whoa unto this dweeb when she wasn't there and he got me on the phone. "Have you tried looking up your own ass?")<br /><br />I told her that I fully expected to hear her say on the phone some afternoon: "Hold your hands just above your shoulders. No, two inches higher. Good. Now bring them together slowly. I said <i><b>SLOWLY!</b></i> There you are. That's it. It's the thing right under your hat." Mother laughed heartily at that. (She found his incessant phone calls because he could not see what was right in front of his face annoyed her as much as me.)<br /><br />Once, when my mother's car was in for repairs, I let her use my car to go to work that day, and to make some deliveries for her boss in it. The next day she related her boss's request that I remove the "Legalize Marijuana" bumper sticker from my car when he was using it for his busness's deliveries. I told him he could go fuck himself, and would he like to me <i>charge</i> him for the use of <i><b>MY</b></i> car. He shut up.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-16829320428227087942014-10-09T17:03:28.503-07:002014-10-09T17:03:28.503-07:00Michael Scott/David Brent weren't pricks exact...Michael Scott/David Brent weren't pricks exactly, they were two people who confused popularity with respect. <br />Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13302545167970532080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3048726608251537132014-10-09T13:32:52.769-07:002014-10-09T13:32:52.769-07:00Seems like the assistant who had to clean up his b...Seems like the assistant who had to clean up his boss’s dog shit <i>and</i> hold his boss’s gum in his bare hand had a perfect opportunity to get his revenge.Hank Gillettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17328364486555780403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3012330771219990652014-10-09T12:06:00.163-07:002014-10-09T12:06:00.163-07:00Great article although you don't have to work ...Great article although you don't have to work in the "biz" to experience this type of behavior. I dealt with it even when I worked in a high school cafeteria! Interesting sidenote to Jim's story. He mentions Jen Aniston in FB Day Off. Jen was in the "Horrible Bosses" movie from a few years ago. She played the dentist. Off topic, but can you imagine being an assistant in the room with Ryan Murphy when he comes up with some of the American Horror Story stuff?? <br />Jan BAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-41334962594364647692014-10-09T10:26:34.636-07:002014-10-09T10:26:34.636-07:00Just piping up for "the bosses." For eve...Just piping up for "the bosses." For every one bad boss there are 10 employees who are batshit crazy.<br /><br />I've got tons of stories. The alcoholic who thinks nobody will notice he's drunk. The coke heads who think nobody notices they're talking like a 33 1/3 record set on 78. The entitled little brats who won't take initiative except to play on their iPhones.<br /><br />I've fired people who then decided to try to argue me out of firing them, yelling and screaming as if I might say, "you know, the way you frame your argument, your logic is impeccable. You're right. I am an asshole, and you should be running this company, because you know better. I'm going to hire you for my job, then resign to travel the world to find myself. Thank you for the quality of insight you've never displayed once since working here. We're all winners now. Look for my instagram posts from Bora Bora."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69739133112429047042014-10-09T09:11:58.237-07:002014-10-09T09:11:58.237-07:00I read the GQ article - and as someone who started...I read the GQ article - and as someone who started out as an agent's assistant - I felt his take on how horrible his bosses were was rather tame. The agent I worked for was (probably still is) a childish, whiner who threw fits, blamed you for his mistakes and would ambush you in attempts to look better to others. He wanted someone who would go the extra mile without being asked to, anticipate his every need and be someone the clients would be happy to talk to instead of him, so he could sell, sell sell! None of those things are unreasonable and to be fair, he is one hell of a salesman.<br /><br />That said, throwing a hissy fit while on the phone with a casting director because I didn't hand him a specific type of pen (when he never specified anything in the first place), calling me at 2am because he lost something in his computer (it was simply in the wrong folder and it had nothing to do with work) and not telling me he was on speakerphone when he called me into his office to berate me for not sending a client to an audition, (when, as the casting director on the phone told him, I didn't take the information about the audition - the agent did and never told me or the client about it) was only the tip of the iceberg. Oh, and there was zero training. I was told there would be training by his former assistant who was now a manager. Nope, none. I was thrown in the deep end to figure out how that office worked by myself, so I got yelled at a lot those first couple of weeks.<br /><br />Being an Agent's Assistant for a year was my Vietnam. A year in hell where you do your job, keep your head down and dodge grenades and land mines. For the record, I quickly became exactly what he wanted - I anticipated his needs and wants, went above and beyond for him and the clients, made him look good, willingly took blame for his mistakes and became the person his clients would rather talk to - which became a problem when they were no longer asking for him. <br /><br />I was fired the friday after pilot season ended and was told by his old assistant that this was how he worked. He wanted someone like me, would get jealous that he was not the center of attention, then replace them with someone who only does what they are told - then gets sick of constantly having to give direction and talk to the clients, and gets rid of them to find someone more on the ball. <br /><br />When I was fired that Friday I was crushed. I thought that was the inauspicious end to my career. By Monday at noon, I had received four job offers from other agencies and talent managers, about twenty calls from clients asking if I was ill (they hadn't been told the truth yet - just that I wasn't in) and needed some of Jerry's Deli's chicken noodle soup sent over. Sometimes getting booted out of Vietnam is the best thing that can happen to you.Rowannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52560552801597960472014-10-09T08:54:39.473-07:002014-10-09T08:54:39.473-07:00I *never* understood why assistants are so abused....I *never* understood why assistants are so abused. Hasn't anyone figured out that these people, treated right, would pimp out their hot sisters and give you U-Hauls full of coke for free?<br /><br />Really, is the advice of 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure -- "Be excellent to each other" -- all that that hard to do? (Altho yeah, "party on" is probably easier.)ScottyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-81516079754149746812014-10-09T08:44:58.544-07:002014-10-09T08:44:58.544-07:00@Scooter Schechtman: I never thought Michael Scott...@Scooter Schechtman: I never thought Michael Scott was a prick. Someone damaged by an unending need for attention and lacking in social skills maybe, but not really a prick.<br /><br />Ricky Gervais, now he might actual be a prick. A rather funny prick maybe, but still.ScottyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62211595786474899732014-10-09T07:17:16.011-07:002014-10-09T07:17:16.011-07:00i actually did have a boss who angrily called me l...i actually did have a boss who angrily called me looking for a sales report...when he knew i was in the hospital with my wife having a baby.The Bumble Bee Pendanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782074071758250824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-32911036750335423442014-10-09T06:32:52.563-07:002014-10-09T06:32:52.563-07:00I've had two truly horrible bosses, and in bot...I've had two truly horrible bosses, and in both cases they were ex-Marines. Oh sorry, as both of them would frequently say, "There's no such thing as an ex-Marine."<br /><br />There's a mindset the USMC beats into their skulls, and forever after they can't resist running a Gladiator School whenever someone gives them an ounce of authority.<br /><br />odJenningsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90067460065585767772014-10-09T06:05:28.685-07:002014-10-09T06:05:28.685-07:00Scooter: Before it was a movie, THE DEVIL WEARS PR...Scooter: Before it was a movie, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA was a *book*. The book was a somewhat fictionalized account of the author's year working for a women's magazine. Similarly, before THE NANNY DIARIES was a movie it, too, was a book, written by two women who worked in wealthy, UES Manhattan families. The two former nannies composited their own stories with those of others they knew.<br /><br />Sure, don't trust the icky romances in the movies. But there's a lot about genuine horrible bosses in the books.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23063082588114488472014-10-09T05:41:15.005-07:002014-10-09T05:41:15.005-07:00• Larry Tate was real, and at work there are a lot...• Larry Tate was real, and at work there are a lot of Larrys in both genders. A lot of witches and warlocks, too, but not as funny as Paul Lynde and Marion Lorne. In the halls, look out for Gladys Kravitz.<br /><br />• Re: the gum. Maybe that kind of abuse is what inspired Mel Brooks to play the "piss boy" in The History of the World Part One.<br /><br />• Management and bosses are flim-flammed by every Harold Hill who comes along to find ways to relieve them of having to do what you said -- treat your people right and spend a few minutes once in a while to tell them they did good on something. They get all starry-eyed when "studies" say that employees aren't looking for money, they want recognition. That's partly true, but recognition in the form of awards and mechanical means while still being distant and indifferent does not work.<br /><br />We once worked for an executive who blew her stack when one of our peers rode a Segway on the carpet. She made him stop because it would "leak oil on the carpet." She also berated an administrative assistant -- for bringing in her dog -- then made her apologize when the lady called her "Cruella."<br /><br />One of my bosses had to rush upstairs to his boss to kill a bug.<br /><br />And the list goes on... Greg Ehrbarhttp://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/category/animation-spin/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-79395315109517891672014-10-09T02:11:15.991-07:002014-10-09T02:11:15.991-07:00Funniest bad boss story I've ever heard went a...Funniest bad boss story I've ever heard went as follows. Staff arrived in the morning to be met with a furious rant from the boss that her computer wasn't working and demanding to know who had been using it. Everyone denied having touched it. She demanded an IT technician be called in to fix the problem. One of the staff examined the computer and immediately found the cause of the problem. He explained to her it wasn't plugged in.Hamidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25424016942313368032014-10-08T21:57:44.651-07:002014-10-08T21:57:44.651-07:00went to, not wet to.went to, not wet to.Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-60590654778219520832014-10-08T21:57:05.544-07:002014-10-08T21:57:05.544-07:00I was lucky and unlucky with bosses as an Air Forc...I was lucky and unlucky with bosses as an Air Force employee. The problem was turnover. Most people wet to another position after a year or two so it was good when a jerk left but bad when a good guy did. And if you got two or three jerks in a row, it was really bad. Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-91355133765511649322014-10-08T14:30:41.279-07:002014-10-08T14:30:41.279-07:00PS. Horrible as some show business bosses can inde...PS. Horrible as some show business bosses can indeed be, the worst bosses I have ever had were in the industry known as Banking. Bankers deal solely with money and greed (And it was amazing to me in the two years I spent working in banks, to see how <i><b>MANY</b></i> of them stole, from tellers who pilfered $5 from their own till up to one branch manager I knew who went to prison for kiting over $4,000,000!), not with talent or accomplishment, and care only about money, devoid of any human values. I quickly learned that when my bank bosses said someone was "A Good Customer," this did not mean longtime association and bills paid. It meant "Persons with 4 or more figures in their accounts." Period. Someone whith only a couple hundred bucks in their accounts (Like, say, all the tellers) was not a "Good Customer."<br /><br />Let's see: who bankrupted America? Oh yes, bankers.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19634509452098591332014-10-08T14:23:20.706-07:002014-10-08T14:23:20.706-07:00"Anonymous said...
"Here’s one of those ...<i>"Anonymous said...<br />"Here’s one of those irrefutable laws of the universe: If a comedy writer has to constantly tell you how funny he is, he’s not funny."<br /><br />We're all looking at you, McEwan..."</i><br /><br />"We're all"? Who would that be, Mr. Anonymous Coward? Did you forget how to spell your own name?<br /><br />Very amusing article. I see that "M-" hasn't worked in show business in 19 years, while "L-" has recently produced a ("Hilarious"?) short documentary on weather after his last comedy writing credit 11 years ago.<br /><br />During my time working at <i>The Hollywood Reporter</i> back in the mid-1980s, I spent one week assigned to fill in for the vactioning (Or more likely fleeing for her life) assistant to a very famous columnist there. (<i>Not</i> Robert Osbourne.) Quite a hellish five days, though fortunately, only five days before returning to a better position at the HR with sane people. <br /><br />The primary things I was hollared at (And I was hollered at hourly) was my inability to read this columnist's, let's call him G-, mind. Again and again G- screamed at me for not knowing what he had not told me. What was interesting to me was how this guy's malice was turned outward at everyone. G-'s column always included photographs of celebrities attending social events. I got screamed at one day for not telling the photographer not to photographer not to photograph married people with their own spouses. He, of course, had never told me to tell his photographer that. (Nor why his usual photographer didn't already know his rules.) But G- then explained with a weird mixture of anger and glee that one <i><b>NEVER</b></i> photographed people with their own spouses; that was "Boring." You couldn't ladle innuenndo over photos of people socializing with their own spouses. Then he yelled at me some more for not having been born with the knowledge and malice of a talentless gossip maven. And also for not knowing that the most-important person on earth was, at that time, Candy Spelling.<br /><br />Well, at least he didn't bother me with his pets.<br /><br />But on the whole, I was lucky; I worked over the years for a number of comedy mentors who were sane and reasonable. I've dedicated books to two of them. One in particular, had a real temper, and would lash out once in a while, but always solely at whomever was responsible for a cock-up, but it never spilled over in other directions. He could be standing next to you and shout at someone who'd screwed something up, then turn back and continue a quiet, polite conversation with you. He never raised his voice to me.<br /><br />The other did sometimes let his temper go in all directions. (That period when he was quitting smoking was hell for all within blast range.) But once calmed down, he was always ashamed and would apologize. Once, in a writing session, he had a fury about three of us returning from lunch too late and threw a hamburger past us at the wall. A week later, on a pre-arranged cue, the three of us threw our hamburgers at him. There was a moment of silence, tension and suspense, and then all four of us burst out laughing. He knew he'd deserved it and took it. <br /><br />And he cared for his own pets and cars. Still does.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29535615324774264202014-10-08T13:59:52.919-07:002014-10-08T13:59:52.919-07:00Rabbi, Very good words to live by. Rabbi, Very good words to live by. PNW Coreynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87760271582838483552014-10-08T13:43:59.215-07:002014-10-08T13:43:59.215-07:00Bud Grace, who draws the "Piranha Club" ...Bud Grace, who draws the "Piranha Club" comic strip, used to be a physics professor.<br /><br />In one sequence, central character Ernie was strapped to a table in a UFO for some alien medical procedure. The chief alien was wildly abusive to his sidekick.<br /><br />"My graduate student," the alien politely explained to Ernie.DBensonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-368616049897943792014-10-08T11:56:03.220-07:002014-10-08T11:56:03.220-07:00"Here’s one of those irrefutable laws of the ..."Here’s one of those irrefutable laws of the universe: If a comedy writer has to constantly tell you how funny he is, he’s not funny."<br /><br />We're all looking at you, McEwan...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86912945372033777942014-10-08T11:42:27.141-07:002014-10-08T11:42:27.141-07:00@Scooter: Streep/Miranda doesn't have a heart ...@Scooter: Streep/Miranda doesn't have a heart of gold at all. (She has some vulnerability, but that's where it ends.) You're supposed to be glad that Anne Hathaway escapes her clutches, soul intact.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49761070793267880032014-10-08T11:37:12.187-07:002014-10-08T11:37:12.187-07:00Ken,
After today's post, I gotta ask: may I be...Ken,<br />After today's post, I gotta ask: may I be your assistant? Please? I'll laugh at everything you say. Thanks.Jaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-16133046981210247722014-10-08T11:35:24.415-07:002014-10-08T11:35:24.415-07:00The same is true for how co-workers treat one anot...The same is true for how co-workers treat one another. I work at a TV production company in LA doing the more corporate-type of work required, and I'm working alongside an admin assistant who is one of these clichéd hybrids polluting Hollywood: an aspiring actress-model-singer. She's also a snappy little brat of a jerk to me, and at times speaks to me as if I'm her employee (despite the fact that, unlike her, I don't answer the phones).<br /><br />But unlike a boss/employee situation, I just ignore the bitch, which I know kills her because she's an incredibly needy drama queen who is desperate for attention. And plus it's one less person for her to unleash her snippy attitude and dirty looks to.<br /><br />I guess I'm simply venting, but I guess I'm also sharing a Hollywood story where even the assistants think they can treat people like crap. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56461055652681881682014-10-08T10:44:10.301-07:002014-10-08T10:44:10.301-07:00There is a response from one of the writers he wro...There is a response from one of the writers he wrote about (Mr. M), as well as Jim's reply, here:<br /><br />http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gq-editor-chiefs-horrible-hollywood-709149Arthurnoreply@blogger.com