things I will not miss about my last job: a running list
Starting work at 8 AM because, in my boss's words, "that's how things work around here!" (Naturally, we were salaried.)
Being asked why my status wasn't active on Teams at 8 AM (Before my boss's random declaration that we start at 8, it had never been discussed.)
Getting to the office at 7:30 and seeing my boss there (every single time)
Leaving the office when my boss said it was okay to do so: the earliest being 5:45 PM and the latest 8 PM, on multiple occasions
Getting on a plane to fly to the office for one (1) day of in-person work before returning home
Receiving instant messages like "Can we talk now?" or "Do you have a minute?" without any context at all
Receiving text messages at 10 PM asking me to get online to work on something urgent
Racking my brain for something to say to my boss in response to him walking up to my desk, looking at my new keyboard, and, completely unprompted, saying "I don't like that"
Taking paid time off to go to the hospital and trying to explain to coworkers as politely as possible that No, I did Not have a restful time away
Listening to the board of directors at my company suggest, in response to an employee question about worker burnout, that we "get off our phones"
Being interrupted while on a call with my doctor in a private meeting room as my boss entered my meeting room to speak to me (with no warning)
Listening to my boss admonish me for going to the bathroom during an important meeting (I was gone for a grand total of two (2) minutes. It was a virtual meeting that was being recorded.)
Being told on a performance review that I "walked either too far or behind the group" (I occasionally lagged behind, only because the team didn't bother waiting for me when I fell behind.)
Lying when my boss asked me, the only person of color in the entire office, if I felt like I fit in
Trying to understand why my boss told me I couldn't "pick and choose" which company events I wanted to go to after I had opted not to attend a gathering after positive COVID cases had been reported among the would-be participants
Watching my coworkers pretend nothing had happened as all but one of the coworkers that started in my cohort with me quit, one by one
Trying to hide my disbelief as I listened to my boss complain about his maids increasing their rates by $10 an hour
Receiving messages from my boss asking me how I was feeling while out sick with COVID and suggesting I "take NyQuil" while on Paxlovid to speed up my recovery
Being told to "figure things out" and "not expect to have things spoonfed" to me when I asked clarifying questions about the task that were assigned to me
Pretending to not hear my boss explain why, when faced with the difficult choice of voting for a Democrat and a Republican convicted of domestic abuse, he opted not to vote at all
Overhearing my boss explain how Simone Biles had "betrayed our country" after she had pulled out of the Olympic team final (Simone has four Olympic gold medals, one silver, and two bronze. My boss has zero (0).)
Listening to my boss vow to a coworker how he would "murder" his daughters if they ever went into sex work or posted revealing pictures online
Watching my boss cancel a Lyft after the app notified him that his driver could potentially be hearing-impaired
Being told by my boss, upon remarking on the lack of vegetarian and vegan options at a catered breakfast, that "there are pastries"