The new girl at work....

[gidget1978]

...is driving me INSANE! She does N-O-T-H-I-N-G and gets away with it!
For some reason, my boss keeps picking up for her. He keeps saying that she is going through a "tough time" right now, but he doesn't know that she is her worst enemy.
She as been here since March and she still doesn't know how to do her job. She doesn't fax sheets that need to be sent, she doesn't do her paper work right, she doesn't clean up after herself...etc and the list goes on.
I come back from a weekend off and it appears that I have to be the one who restocks everything around here and clue things up!
She is looking for a new job and by God..I hope she finds it. She also lies like you wouldn't beleive. We have caught her in a few. I don't think she realizes that the other girls around here chat.
The bottom line is, its useless to complain about her b/c it is so hard to get workers around here. I think my boss would rather keep her, then have to go through the hiring process again and train someone.
She is a lump though, she does nothing and as no energy!

I just needed to vent! On top of that, I haven't had a good weight workout in weeks b/c my basement flooded, I have a terrible toothache and can't get into see my dentist, TTOM is here, DD is gone boy crazy and DS as learned to scream instead of cry! Lord help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lori

 

[Tracey M]

Bless your heart! I know how frustrating it can be to work with people like that...I have 2 or 3 right now. At least you can get all that off your chest here. Add a flood, toothache, TTOM and children - you must be superwoman to not be breaking down right now! Hopefully that girl (and my 3 no good co-workers) will quit soon. {{Hugs}} to you in the mean time!

 

[LaughingWater]

Hang in there! Things will turn around soon, I'm sure.

(Regarding your co-worker, I'll never understand adults who lie. I have someone in my social circle who I suspect is a compulsive liar ~ it's very bizarre.)

 

[kathryn]

{{{{{Lori!}}}}}

Sounds so frustrating!

Unfortunately, when there are more jobs than workers, the cream of the crop is quickly scooped up, and what's left is 'something else' that floats!

I have little tolerance for people who don't pull their own weight, especially when others suffer for it.

I know it may be hard to find good workers, but a useless lump of a do-nothing is worse than an empty chair, IMO. Someone like that can really drain energy, and frustrate co-workers (as you are finding out!).

Sounds like a good time for KPC! Good muscle toning, and a good way to take out any pent-up aggression to the slaker. (Though thinking up silly names for her to yourself can diffuse your stress a bit, too. I find that if-- instead of thinking or saying things like $(@# , #&@$, or @$)!@*$ (fill in with your favorite words!)--when somebody cuts me off traffic or something, I think "you poopy!", or some other such silly name, it takes the seriousness out of it, and sometimes even makes me laugh.) Go ahead. Try it. Think of her, then think "You POOPY!" No matter how angry your intonation, you just can't seriously be angry any more (at least I can't. Maybe you need another silly word for the same effect).


Recently, I discovered that a colleague of mine that I had passed some syllabi on to (at her request, for us to have a consistant breakdown, and for her to get an idea of what I was doing), copied verbatum 95% of my course info: an information section where I tell them in MY voice, about the different aspects of the class.

I was disturbed to see my very words (my VOICE---no one would phrase certain things the way I do, with the same type of humor, etc.) used without explicit permission. As I kept reading 'her' info, I couldn't help thinking "That *I* is ME, not HER!"

I sent her an email about it, prefacing by saying that perhaps I should be flattered that she felt my material was so well-worded it didn't need change. She apologized, first saying that I 'should be flattered' because she did find it well done (that "should" kind of grated on me). She then 'reminded me' that at the time she first copied this, she had just been hired late in the summer, had just deposited her thesis, bla bla bla, and thought we were 'working together for the good of the department (um...'working together' = mutual; you ask, I give, you take without asking further...not so much). Then she said she wouldn't be able to rewrite (I had asked her to rephrase in her own words at least) because she is going through some 'personal problems' (like who isn't?).

Oh, well. Live and learn!

It did prompt me to add a note to my web page, asking visitors other than my own students to give proper credit if using any of my materials.

 

[gidget1978]

Thanks Girls!

Kathyrn...its been a while since I said "you poopy" LOL Its usually something much worse! LOL! Well, if the new girl here were to take credit for something that someone else did, she would infact lie about it and pretend that she did it. I think she is one of those people who lie and actually beleives what they are saying.
She grummbled that one of the girls wouldn't work for her, when in fact she would. She just wanted to switch another shift with her. Then she told my coworker that I was working the shift for her and she was working one for me. That conversation never happened but in the end, I was left scratching my head and wondering if I had forgotten the whole conversation.
She also broke up with her BF (she is only 21) tried to move in with a friend of ours that she started dating, he told her that she had to find her own spot, they split.Who tries to move in with someone that they just met? Then she stormed into her ex's house the other night, while he was in bed with someone else, called the cops but she was the one to get removed.Why would she think that she as the authority to tell her ex who he can have in his own home. She is C-R-A-Z-Y on top of LAZY! I seriously think that there is something wrong with this chick.
Sometimes she will do her work right, sometimes wrong and sometimes not at all. Depends on what she is in the mood for. Its pointless to complain about her so for right now, we are just sucking it up and waiting for her to move on....hopefully that will be sooner then later!

 

[kathryn]

I seriously think that there is something wrong with this chick.

Yikes!

Methinks something is 'not quite right' in the poopy's brain pan. ;-) The constant lying really sounds like something pathological.

Could the boss be giving her slack because she has some kind of mental/emotional disability, and was hired through some special program? (Even if not, you could always pretend so!).

 

[delfinn]

I feel for you. I think,sometimes, the reason bosses put up with workers like her is: if your boss is the one who hired her, he doesn't want to admit that he made a mistake. A company I worked with many moons ago, well, the owner hired a woman to head our SF office. It wasn't long before all of the employees realized she was just not right for the job (and a little kooky, too). It took him forever before he would finally admit that to himself. Knowing my old boss, and his ego, I'm convinced he just didn't want to believe that he could've made a big mistake in hiring.

Good luck... and ITA with Kathryn's suggestion: KPC!!

 

[gidget1978]

You have a very good point there! My boss is very stubborn and would never admit to making a mistake! The other thing is that he doesn't work with her very often. We work shift work and she likes to work nights (b/c then she REALLY doesn't have to do anything) so my boss doesn't get to see her.
Also, there was some problems a while ago with 2 of the girls at work but they patched things up. Since then, one of the girls who started the arguement with the other girl is the same girl who went to our boss whining about the new girl so he doesn't really think that she is a kooky and weird as she is saying that she is. Oh well...she won't be aroun forever, I will just have to grin and bare it
Lori

 

[Pinny150]

Here is what I have learned about co-workers like that.....and I hope this helps, because no matter where you go or work, there's always one like this girl! I try to keep these tips in mind so I don't drive myself nuts before/during/or after work.
Karma- believe in it! What goes around comes around...eventually...it might not be right this minute, but it will happen.
Give time, time! She will do herself in at some point...again, maybe not right this second, but try and feel some satisfaction that she won't fool people forever! And lastly, she's young and doesn't have a clue, and seems to have never known real happieness. Pity her if possible. Be incredibly happy everyday that you are NOT her personally or professionally. I worked with a girl who FINALLY got fired (who was justlike this girl, but we're the same age, both 29), and it took almost 6 months...but she finally did herself in....it was nice to see justice..=)

 

[SirenSongWoman]

Where I used to work there was an evil girl who tried to cause all sorts of trouble until she went too far one day and was pretty much cut off afterwards. But when I ran into a former co-worker who asked me what it was like to work for the post office (where I am now) I said "You remember (mean girl's name)?... How would you like to work in a place where half the employees act just like her?' Ouch. I really had no idea there were so many people who are evil, manipulative and conniving just for the FUN of it. And so many people who are unashamed to have nothing going on in their lives to the extent that they're all up in YOUR business. There was a time when a person would be embarrassed to be caught in petty gossip but the folks where I work seem to think they earn points for it. That mean girl in my last job was the tip of the iceberg.