Cubicle Confessions
Unfiltered stories from the 9-5 trenches.
Cubicle Confessions
High School Never Ends
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Is it just us...or did we graduate high school just to relive it in a cubicle?
In this episode House and Josie expose the cold, hard truth: the office is just high school with cliques, popular people, office gossip squad and coworkers who still act like it's senior year.
Expect savage commentary and painfully relatable stories while they call out the office stereotypes (we all secretly recognize) without being sent to the principal's office a/k/a HR's office; and help you survive the 9 to 5 homeroom. Because high school didn't end...it just comes with a paycheck.
Class is in session.
Hi Josie.
SPEAKER_03Hi House.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to Cubicle Confession.
SPEAKER_03And nobody got down for it. And nobody got down for it.
SPEAKER_06Welcome back to Cubicle Confessions. The only podcast that proves your office badge is just a grown-up podcast. Today's episode is gonna be a spicy one. Because let's be honest, high school never ends. The cafeteria turns into a break room and your desk turns into a cubicle. And the mean girls discover reply all.
SPEAKER_02Think about your work environment right now. Who's the bully? Who's the teacher's pet? Who's the poser? And which one are you pretending you're not? So grab your emotional support water bottle and let's survive cubicle life together. So, house.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what's up, Josie?
SPEAKER_02High school never ends. No, it doesn't. And what's up with that? Why are people assholes? Why are why is it when there's a new person at an office or whatever job, they're treated like an outcast. They have to be like hazed. I mean, it's just bullshit. And I know we've all been there. We've all dealt with mean girls. Oh, totally. It's mostly men or w women, not men. I feel like men don't really do it like men just ignore.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think they're actually catty, but they're they're just they just they kind of ignore and make everyone just they just don't talk. Yeah, like they've I've been working on not saying like. And I I'm I just gotta sh- I like when you say like. I like a lot. A lot of liking. There's nothing wrong with that. Um and oh, those two. A lot of ums. Um, there it is. I can't, it's hard, it's hard. I'm working on that. So it's a thought process. It is. You're not you're actually not supposed to say anything. Right? You're supposed to just be silent and like yeah, I just did it again. But you're supposed to be silent and just let the thought come through because we've live in a world where we have to rush and everything is where you you feel like you constantly have to say something and you can't just let the fl the thoughts flow.
SPEAKER_06I just always thought likes and ums came from valley girls.
SPEAKER_02Like um it did. I really think that's when it all changed. I think that's when it all changed.
SPEAKER_06All valley girls at heart.
SPEAKER_02We are, we sure are. I'm proud of it too. Right? Oh, it could be on the beach right now, but yeah, what is up with that when you start a job, it's always the women who are catty, or I I I'll be honest with you, I have never treated a new person, and I am not even lying. I've never treated a new person poorly, ever, at any job.
SPEAKER_06I don't think I ever did either because I was treated poorly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know what it's like to be new and you're nervous, you are, and and I I remember waitressing. Waitresses are the fucking worst. They're the worst. You start a new job, they start sabotaging you, they want your shift, or oh, why did she why did the new person get a Friday night? I should get the Friday nights, or I got bumped, or so-and-so got bumped, and it was clicky, they were cruel, it was drama, and it is so stressful.
SPEAKER_06You know, where I found women to be the most catty was age. You start a new job, it seems like the veterans who've worked in a job for a really long time, they have their click, they establish their spot. Yes, and if you're young, they treat you like you're dumb. Yeah, so you don't know the ins and outs here, you don't know this, you don't know that. And if you try to get into that click, it's like you have to prove yourself. You know, it's almost like a college sorority, you know. You're tested on everything you do, and if you don't do it right, you're not in the click.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it you feel like you can't make a mistake, and it being new and starting something that you have never done is hard enough without people ganging up on you or trying to throw you under the bus. I do feel there's usually some nice people. It it can go. I've never worked somewhere where like everybody was like that, it was always a few here and there, but then there were like the nicer ones who wanted you to succeed and wanted to help you and train you properly, and those are always the ones that they would put you with to learn because that higher-ups knew who they could put new people with and who they can't typically.
SPEAKER_06I'm trying to think of of past experiences, at least for myself. I mean, starting new places, it's always intimidated. I was always really quiet. Then once I got comfortable, you know, I got loud because I am loud. Yep. Yep. Everyone learned my my dirty girl mouth.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And I remember when you started it at our job, I was like, oh yay! I was like, there's somebody who's like funny and filthy, and I love it.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh. I think I opened up way too soon when we worked there, like way too fucking soon.
SPEAKER_02It was actually maybe a couple months after you started. We were out and we went for a happy hour. We used to do a lot of those. Yeah. And one of the people we work with left his scarf at the bar, and we were like, oh, look at he left his scarf here. Let's take all these like really funny pictures with it. And me and you we were we had so much fun with the scarf, and it was us and a couple of the other ladies we worked with, and and it was we were sending all these hysterical pictures. I still have them, they are so funny.
SPEAKER_06And it was I don't even know how it came to be. We were like, Oh, he, you know, he left his scarf here, and then I was like, quick, house, come over here. And I put two bar stools together, and I'm like, look, we pitched a tent.
SPEAKER_01We pitched the tent. I think we were wiping the bar, pretending to wipe the bar with it.
SPEAKER_02And I think someone put it on as like a yeah, we all had it on. It was so long, random. It was like six feet long, and we all holding this. I'm like, how does he fit this on? It's he must ramp it around his face like ten times.
SPEAKER_06See, I opened up so soon. Like, I was so comfortable with you guys right off the bat.
SPEAKER_02When you you know, sometimes you just know your limitations and how comfortable you can how how yourself you can act. Right. Um, I think we were fortunate enough to have a crew that wasn't judgy or catty. We all were really friendly and open. And I mean, and in those days, there really weren't any and that's one thing I liked about that job. No one was really catty or rude or trying to sabotage me. It it was a wide range of ages too.
SPEAKER_06It was close and it was, yeah, but for the most part, there was some there was some age differences by a few by a few years.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, oh for sure. So which I think helps. When I waitressed, everyone was young, about the same age, and yeah, just that was rough. All women, I don't really want to ever work with women all again, like all women like that.
SPEAKER_06When I waitressed, I worked with older women and younger women, and I was in the younger crowd, but I've always been told that I have like an old soul, like I've always been like that. Like I I just mingle with the young and I can mingle with the old and you know, in between. But I saw how those older women they they took those shifts from those younger girls, and those younger girls needed those shifts because they were in school, they were trying to make ends up.
SPEAKER_02Older waiters on their own next level caddy. I I used to work with these two. This was a a different job that I had in the food industry, service industry. There were two older ladies, they were horrible to each other. They would steal each other's tips. Oh my god, they would steal each other's tables. Shame on them. They would fight is because it was a smaller, like diner type restaurant, and during the day it would just be the two of them sometimes. They would fight in front of the customers and like make us like the bitches. This hell over here. They were unbelievable. They hated each other, hated each other.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02And I just remember thinking, I never want to be like that when I'm an older woman and uh treat people like that. And they were they could be bitchy, they were real fake and two-faced, you know, they would be nice to your face and they go talk about you behind your back, and shame on them. You would think they'd be helping you, or like, and then they'd be nasty, and like I don't know.
SPEAKER_06They were just I always notice when you start somewhere new, if you have a divided office or divided environment, for some reason the lone person who's the sweetest person in whatever environment you're in is the one that will approach you first and ask you if you need anything, and they're very sweet about it and they're very genuine.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And anybody that comes after that, it's more or less they they kind of watched you and they kind of felt you out first before they realized if they wanted to approach you or not. Yeah. So I don't know. I guess every environment's different. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I Yeah, it sure is.
SPEAKER_06I hate I hate to like throw myself out there as like as different scenarios, but uh I mean, I I had I had one environment that I worked in, she was just downright nasty. She would just throw you under the bus any chance she had, whether it was in public or not. She thought she was the shit of all shits. That's true. And I I don't even know. The shit of all shits. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Cause because I can't even think of something nice to say about her because she was just she was a mean girl.
SPEAKER_06Yes. You would work on a project for weeks on end, and and you know when you like you read something and you read it, read it, read it, and you're like so I I don't even know the words. Like you just you need a fresh eye because you've been working on the same thing over and over again.
SPEAKER_02I don't even know what I'm looking at. Can you read it quickly?
SPEAKER_06Make sure there's nothing weird or correct correct the grammar and and she would grab it without even asking, like I wouldn't even ask her to help read it, and she would grab it and she would like red mark it, but it wouldn't even be anything worthwhile of noting. It would be just her own preferences, what she thought it should be. But nothing major yeah, like she thought she was the fucking expert.
SPEAKER_00Not a fan. I know exactly who you're talking about.
SPEAKER_06We have some segment topics that we wrote down that we thought would be good to to put down in the high school never ends episode. And it's it's always about the uh office classifications because and it and it's we say office, but it could be anywhere. It could be anywhere you're working, and we put down feisty bitches, office bullies, teachers pets, wannabes, opposers, popular, and jocks.
SPEAKER_02The jocks. Who are the jocks? The jocks. Ooh, we'll go on the box. Would that be like in the jocks are the golden child, everyone loves them because they're good at sports and they can fail all the classes, but the teachers always give them a passing grade.
SPEAKER_06Pretty much can get away with anything, can be confident without even trying. Very charismatic. That's the word I was looking for. Charismatic. And they're usually protected by the leader and their peers. That's usually what the the jock is, the golden child of the office.
SPEAKER_02That's always tough because favoritism, I think, is just the worst when you see someone and you're like, wow, you don't even know what you're talking about. You've only been in this field for a month and you're already treated like you are an expert and everyone should listen to you, but you have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah. Is it kind of like a fake it till you make it kind of thing? And those are you make it, but no one respects you because you have no clue what you're talking about. Pretty much. But you can do no wrong in the boss's eyes, and yeah, yeah, that's pretty much the jock.
SPEAKER_06They're the ones that don't have a clue, but somehow just kind of pull the wool over the leader's eyes. Kind of like I look at it at the jock as more like a uh like the person that goes up to the boss and goes, Wow, I really like that shirt on you. It makes you look very professional, you know, kind of fluff some, you know. Fluffer. Fluffer.
SPEAKER_02Fluffer nutter.
SPEAKER_06And the leader just thinks they're great, you know. They just thinks they're amazing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's frustrating. Especially when that person makes more money than you. Right? Tell me about a time that you felt bullied at a job.
SPEAKER_06Oh my god, every single one of them. Except one. But every single one of them. Let's see, what was the bully biggest bully factor? I think my biggest bully factor was really um when I was called a a fucking princess.
SPEAKER_04Oh.
SPEAKER_06That was my biggest bully factor. And and I say that because I was so shaken up by that. I can't even, I can't even say. Like when he said that to me, I physically went numb. Like purely numb. And I think it was a a protection mechanism, like mechanism of my body to like protect myself from not lashing out, you know, or or doing or murdering him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Or just breaking down into tears because it was so overwhelming.
SPEAKER_02I did. And I I think I did. And in that those moments are hard because you want to say so many things and then you you exit the situation and you're just upset that you didn't say so much. Like, oh, I should have done this, I should have said that, I should have thrown that brick at his face.
SPEAKER_06Honestly, I think I would have gone down swinging. I I'm kind of happy my body went numb in that situation.
SPEAKER_02Because that was that was really, really bad for me. Are very traumatic. And I mean, yeah, everybody experiences stuff like that at their jobs where they freeze, and but that's actually uh your body responding in a very scary way. Right? I and that leaves scars, something like that. And that's unfortunate that you had to go through that because no one should ever feel threatened by an employer. I know I felt that way working for we worked for this crazy woman, and she definitely was bullied me. I I felt very weak at that job, and I felt extremely intimidated and scared. I was scared. I remember going to work every day in fear. I remember one day I was actually at an event and I was talking to my husband about the day and some of the things that happened, and I actually started looking around like worried that she or someone that knew her was there. And I'm I don't know why. And I look back, I I have no reason to be afraid of this woman. She is honestly the most pathetic person on the planet. So pathetic. So we could do 10 episodes on how awful and stupid this person is. That's really what it was, right? And I'm like allowing this person to treat me so poorly. She never did it when I was there, though. No, no, she was there.
SPEAKER_06And you would tell me, and I'm like, oh my god, dude.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, oh my god. It took everything for me to not walk out. I I and and this isn't a coworker, this is your boss bullying you. Yeah. I mean, screaming at me while I'm typing something for her, standing behind me, scre screaming over my shoulder. Right. And yelling at me because she would give me like a word, and it was maybe not the word she wanted to use, and I didn't delete it fast enough, and then she would No! Or you'd be on the phone and she would like be slamming her hands on the desk and saying, Don't say that, or no, put them on hold, say this, say oh my gosh, she was insane. I'm insane, and she's getting sued by several people now, and it makes me very happy.
SPEAKER_06Hooray! And that's why we left.
SPEAKER_02That's just the but anyway, she was so mean. I was never treated so poorly. Um and I think back of you know, some of the jobs I've had where you know the girls are maybe a little bit catty or bully. It was never anything like that. That was just like crazy, crazy, unbelievable.
SPEAKER_06I I hear you, yeah. It was like our eyes got opened up to a whole different world.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_06It's kind of like the uh upside down world, like from stranger things. Yeah, it was we stepped into the whole different world.
SPEAKER_01And it was like blocking me to a whole other world. That office was just like such a shit.
SPEAKER_02Oh god. Everything about it was just a nightmare, except working with you, obviously. We had some funny laughs there, but yeah, that was just nuts. But yeah, bullied by her and bullied by your employer that you had, like that, and you do, you freeze, you don't know what to do, you don't know how to react, your your face gets hot and red, and your ears are on fire, and you shake. I mean my hands would shake. And I that is pure abuse. It is abuse, yeah. And people think abuse is just getting your well, your employer didn't beat you, no, but they verbally abused me.
SPEAKER_06Oh god, yeah, a hundred percent.
SPEAKER_02You know, and I think about I mean how many times I almost just packed my stuff and walked out of there. I know, it's just crazy.
SPEAKER_06I know, you told me. You're like, I'm gonna leave, and I'm like, go leave.
SPEAKER_05I know I can't leave until you leave.
unknownLeave, please leave.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Oh, I'm trying to think, oh, you know what? I'm totally gonna change topics because this isn't really a co-worker that I felt was a feisty bitch, but I think people need phone etiquette. Okay, because I'm telling you this week on the phone, I talked to some feisty ass bitches, and they're rude, and I'm trying to just get information politely. Like, I I don't know you, I don't have a grudge against you. You know, I'm just I'm calling because I need something, and you got what I need. And there's no need for you to get snippy with me, and there's no need for you to hang up the phone without saying goodbye. Like, I don't get that. How how do you hang up a phone? Have you ever hung up a phone without saying goodbye? Bye, bitch. I don't think so. Like, I I can't I can't even imagine being like, huh, yes, you want that white shirt? Okay.
SPEAKER_02And that's it. No, I have done that. Um, if I'm on the phone with a customer service person and they are just not helping me or I I can't understand what they're saying, I will just hang up the call.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that's different though. But I not in a full conversation with this person and you you have a total mutual understanding, yeah. It's a give and take here, you know, and then they just randomly hang up on you.
SPEAKER_02Like yeah, that's not very nice.
SPEAKER_06Because I'm like, whoa, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I feel sometimes like I if I'm on the phone with someone or I'm usually very friendly and like nice, and I the sometimes I feel like they get almost like annoyed with me. It's like, am I are you not getting it? I'm very nice. Why are you not? Why are you not nice? Right? Why are you mean?
SPEAKER_06Maybe you're having a bad day, but shit. I'm trying to think of other feisty bitches that have come and come. Contact with. They're the ones that that pounce just on anything you say. They feel like everything is gonna be a showdown. No matter what you do, they feel like it's a fight. You feel they feel threatened all the time. That's why they're called feisty bitches.
SPEAKER_02Oh, we had a boss who was like that. He was a little emotional. You know, you catch him on a bad day. Maybe he had a fight with his girlfriend. Maybe he was upset with his ex-wife. But that guy had a vein that would pop. It would pop. Right? It was very big and a shiny and this big vein.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I guess he was the feisty bitch.
SPEAKER_02He was a feisty bitch. I really thought everything was a showdown. It was all about him. Or, you know, there was always a fight with everything, or a criticism, or he would take things the wrong way, or that's one one day he wouldn't care if you were chit-chatting at the desk. The next day it would be like, like, oh my god, like, like you guys gotta stop chit-chatting at the desk. And then he'd that two days later he'd be like, Why don't we all gather around and chit-chat at the desk?
SPEAKER_06Right? Oh my god, I saw a post and it was so funny that I have to find it. I have to pull it up because it was so funny, and I was going to mention it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of emotional support water bottles, I have several. And I've had many over the years.
SPEAKER_06Mine's alcohol.
SPEAKER_02Growing up, I didn't really drink water. I was not a water drinker. You know, I don't think I drank a whole hell of a lot of water either. Oh, no, I never put my entire mouth on the water. Spout. And it was so weird. And I and I'd get up there and I'd be so thirsty because we didn't drink water and be like after gym or something. Right. And I just wanted that water, but I couldn't do it. I I just would be like, I'll have some when I get home because this kid just put his slobbery mouth on it.
SPEAKER_06I would take my shirt and wipe off, I would wipe it off and then let the water run for a second before I start drinking it. Because in my eyes, the wipe off took the germs away.
SPEAKER_02I it I mean it it probably took some of the saliva away, yes. You know, what's funny too, I just thought of this. We didn't have water bottles growing up. No, we also didn't have paper towels anywhere unless someone like had a spill in the class. Shit, how did we wipe it on the bottom? We didn't have the paper paper. We we had the dryer in the bathroom. No, yeah.
SPEAKER_06I I I think when I was growing up, I think I had the paper towels. We had the brown paper towels like they have at McDonald's.
SPEAKER_02Maybe in high school, but grammar school, we just had the the dryer. Wow. Because I remember all the girls we would put our like dirty, probably not washed well hands together under the dryer, and it'd be like a pile of little kid girl hands under the dryer. Like best friends forever.
SPEAKER_05Yay! That's actually kind of cute.
SPEAKER_02It was cute. I just thought of that. A lot of memories from back in the day. I've been seeing a lot of those 90s memes coming up, those nostalgia memes and videos, and they make me so sad and crave the 90s.
SPEAKER_06I can't even remember something sometimes. I think I just I blocked out a lot of stuff. Like I'm too old, so it's like now I'm trying to remember things of my kids more. Yeah, that's why I'm gonna do that. I like kind of like put my own memories and thoughts like before. Yeah, you do you do put stuff away.
SPEAKER_02Because it is funny the things that you do remember for a long time, and then you suddenly just don't. Like I remember I used to remember certain dates really well, or like time periods or names of people, and now I just don't. They just completely I found the meme. Holy shit!
SPEAKER_00It's about fucking time.
SPEAKER_06So it says, Manager, you're paid to work, not to chit-chat. Me, well, you're paid to manage, but I don't see you doing that either. Oh, but um bum.
SPEAKER_05That's cute.
SPEAKER_06I was like, ooh, that was a good one. That was a good one. Yeah, it is. I like that one. Oh, there was another one. I sent this to house. I thought it was pretty good too. And it says, you can't go around calling people cunts and me. Really? I didn't know that.
unknownThat's a good one.
SPEAKER_06I like that one too. I said the C word on our podcast.
SPEAKER_02Holy sh you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday. I almost just said see you next week.
SPEAKER_05Like, don't see you next Tuesday.
SPEAKER_02See you next Tuesday.
SPEAKER_05Oh my god, that's so great.
SPEAKER_06Let's see. What other what other bullies do we have? Oh, well, office classifications. I had office bullies. Different than a feisty bitch, but these individuals are strategic. They're the ones who are always like, uh, just being honest here.
SPEAKER_02But they're typically not honest.
SPEAKER_06No, they just they they just want you to feel bad about yourself.
SPEAKER_02Or they pretend to be in charge or the leader of the situation. And like if the boss isn't there, they step in and act like they were asked to be in charge of everyone when they clearly weren't. But no one wants them to be in charge. They just think that they are better than everybody and know better and are more important. So they just they intimidate everyone. Even though nobody says that you need to be in charge. They just yeah, because they do. And I'm I'm I've always been like we've talked about this, a people pleaser. And yeah, you know, I just want to get along with everybody. I don't want to have drama or problems with people. I just want to do my job and work well with everyone. So putting up with something like that is something I probably would have endured. Yeah. That whole situation. I would have been like, okay, well, what can I do? Right. What can I do?
SPEAKER_06Not even not even thought, like, thought about it again. Like honestly, I probably was pushed over by a lot of bullies and just accepted it as if, you know, that was part of the job. Doormat alert. Doormat alert. Yeah. Like never even thought about it. But sometimes there is some bullies out there who, you know, if you're at the copy machine making a copy and they step in front of you because they they feel that their shit is more important than yours.
SPEAKER_03Oh, bitch, get out the way. Get out the way, bitch, get out the way.
SPEAKER_06You know, they really had to be there the office door.
SPEAKER_02I'm so sorry. I I gotta get this out really quick. Do you mind? Right? Do you mind if I cut?
SPEAKER_06I'm sure, I'm sure someone else would have stepped aside. Or they're the ones who, you know, if you're on a project, I didn't do a lot of group projects. Like I I worked in a corporate atmosphere, and it really wasn't for me because I I felt more like I was a number than I was like an employee. Yes. Like working. Yeah. So I didn't I didn't work on a whole lot of group projects, but I did I did work on just maybe a handful. And I they always made sure that the the uh almost like the uh how would you call them? Like the underdogs were all put together to make sure that you guys struggled more.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_06You know, and it was always that that head leader that was the bully that made sure that everyone struggled. You're gonna struggle because you're not you're not you're new. You're you're you're you really shouldn't be here. I don't feel you should be here.
SPEAKER_02I always wonder what's going on in that person's life at home or personal life to make them so cruel or come to work and act like that. There has to be more to it, right?
SPEAKER_06You're just I really thought that they they were like the submissive one in the house. That's why they would come to work and be like the asshole.
SPEAKER_02Right? Or yeah, maybe the husband is like abusive or or controlling, and there's she doesn't feel like he or she doesn't have the voice at home that and then they take it to the because that's how they want to be someone who's in charge, or they don't get that role ever. So they go to work, and now it's like, okay, well, I can put on a front and pretend to be this leader person in this leadership position. And so I guess when you look at it like that, you almost feel kind of bad for the person in a way. See, you're feeling bad for the fucking bully. Who feels bad for the bully? You know what? The story I just told, I don't feel bad for that bully. She's a that woman that bullied my my boss who bullied me. I don't feel bad for her. Oh my god. Let's see.
SPEAKER_00Not a fan.
SPEAKER_06We have. I know that you and me, mind whisperer, we're gonna put our heads together because I'm telling you, I know who you're gonna say who this is. We're gonna have the same person in mind. Who the teacher's pet. Oh, I know. Oh. Oh, you know who the teacher's pet is.
SPEAKER_02I do. I do. It's true.
SPEAKER_06They're the ones who laugh at every joke the boss says. They volunteer for everything and they defend decisions before they are even questioned.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. The boss is always right. And in that situation, the bosses didn't know what they were doing, and then they even admitted to that many times about certain things. But it was always, you know, no opinion. It was, you know, they never had an opinion of like what they think. It was always just like, well, listen, just do what you're told.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So that person is definitely, I mean, the person I have in mind, who I think you know who it is, too. They just uh they weren't very truthful or very honest, but I felt like because they appeased the boss, that was enough. That was enough. And she did not know what she was doing at all in any way, shape, or form. And it was too late because she was there for so long.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. In a way, good for good for them. They figured it out. They don't have to know or do anything and make a lot of money and that's true. Just never will never lose their job.
SPEAKER_06That's true.
SPEAKER_02They'll never lose their job, they can do no wrong. Even when they even when they're wrong, they can do no wrong.
SPEAKER_06I don't know why. I can't be that person. I don't know if I'm just too stingy or I can't I can't. I I honestly I question everything. I'm that type of person that if you give me a project and tell me to do it this specific way, not that I'm trying to be defiant of you, but I'm gonna try and find a better way. Like if you tell me I want you to take this memo and I want you to type it out with whatever this person had already typed out, I'm gonna copy and paste it instead of retyping it. Like that's just the person I am. Yeah, so sometimes people do find me to be a defiant person because I'm always trying to look at things in a different light. I'm always trying to look at things that I can do better or quicker or faster or save money. Yeah, that is that is like my ultimate goal.
SPEAKER_02I feel like that is like the ideal employee.
SPEAKER_06But I question things too much, and that's where I get in trouble. That's why I'll never be a teacher.
SPEAKER_02But a real team should appreciate the one that questions things because that's a real team. And and it's always the ones that don't appreciate someone like you. Who that those people are the ones saying, we're a team, we're all in this together, we're an offer. We're a family.
SPEAKER_03Here's the story of a lovely lady.
SPEAKER_02No, you're not because a family would be able to bring things up, have opinions, question things, and everyone would respect them. Yeah, it's not like you're trying to start trouble. You are genuinely curious about something or offering your opinion on something, or just wanting some feedback, yes, you know, banter, you know.
SPEAKER_06Oh, you know, I I think it should be like this. And they were like, no, we tried it that way. You know, this is why we're taking this avenue. And I I'd accept it. Yeah, I'd be like, okay, so you tried that way, that's cool. But yeah, I uh I agree with you, but yeah, so that that yeah, that fuck that.
SPEAKER_02I'm about to take a swig of my emotional support water here out of my emotional support water bottle. Gotta stay hydrated.
SPEAKER_01She giggled in her water bottle.
SPEAKER_02Can you hear me swallow? No, I have to tell you something funny. So this is Josie. This is like this made me laugh. A couple weeks ago, I have TMJ really bad, and I bit down on a piece of chocolate, and I I messed up my jaw. I messed it up. You didn't even tell me it was a piece of chocolate. It was a piece of chocolate. It was a piece of chocolate, and I bite down and I I heard the pop. And I I was like, whoa, that did not sound good. No. So the night that was this was like late at night. I go to bed, I wake up in the morning, and my teeth don't touch. I can't bite. Like, I can't put my back teeth together at all. And I was just like, oh shit, this can't be good. It'll be but you know what? It'll be okay. It'll probably loosen up over the day. It just kept getting worse and worse and worse to the point where I couldn't eat. So I go to the emergency dentist, they pop the jaw back into place and whatever. Everything was good. So I tell Josie about it, and she I say, Oh yeah, I, you know, I dislocated my jaw. And she goes, I don't even want to know.
SPEAKER_01Oh, dirty girl. And my legs so hard. I really laughed hard. I was like, I was like, it's not what you think. Okay, and even now, I told you about the candy, and you're just like, oh, I didn't know the candy.
SPEAKER_05I didn't know it was candy. Oh, that was good. Oh my goodness. Whoo!
SPEAKER_06So I had I had another topic. I had wannabes. Oh, yeah. They want the title, the power, the LinkedIn announcement.
SPEAKER_02Dress for the job three levels above them. I don't mind that. I think if you you dress for the job that you want, yeah, and it helps your confidence. So I don't I don't really think that's a zero authority.
SPEAKER_06Maximum energy. It feels like a like a Power Ranger, you know.
SPEAKER_01Zero authority. A water be a zero authority? Maximum energy?
SPEAKER_05Woo! Oh my gosh, that's so great.
SPEAKER_06Uh I guess, I guess, yeah. You know, I I don't know when we should bring this up. I guess now's a good time. Well, I'll wait. We'll wait.
SPEAKER_00Remember that time? I I don't want to jump, but segment five, yeah, the posers.
SPEAKER_02Remember that time you called our boss a poser because he had a Rolex.
SPEAKER_05We were we were out for our Christmas party and they had a few drinks in me.
SPEAKER_02Because we We had a big wine teaser.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, we had a big wine teaser. I had a few drinks and me. We were hammered. Okay. And then we went to a bar and we're all having a good time. And it was this quaint little bar. It was so perfect. It almost felt like the the bar was just for us. Yes. Because then all of a sudden the bartender like blared the radio and we were dancing, having a good time. And my boss, just out of nowhere, just had this enormous Rolex on his on his wrist. Diamond. And it was bigger, like it made his hand look a baby hand. It really did. And it just happened to catch my eye because he lifted his sleeve up and I just went, What are you, a poser? Oh, he was not happy. He was just like he left the Christmas party.
SPEAKER_02And I stayed in drink. If I hit a Rolex and someone called me a poser, I would think it was funny.
SPEAKER_06Because it probably be But I didn't mean it me. No, no, no. And that was the thing. Like me and him, we would banter all the time in the office. In the beginning. Yeah. Like we would constantly just shoot the shit and laugh. And you know, it was like a good time. So I thought I had that kind of rapport with him because I that's how I always talk to him. Yeah. So I don't know why he took offense to it that time. I don't know. Maybe because the bullier really maybe the bully realized he was being bullied. Oh, you bullied him. He didn't like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Are we being bullies right now? Maybe. We're bullying the bullies by talking about what they've done. No. Or how they've acted. I would say more like we're therapeutic. We're calling them out for their shit.
SPEAKER_04I'm calling you out, bitch.
SPEAKER_06Right? I like that. I think that's best. But yeah, the posers are the worst. They steal your ideas like it's a Black Friday sale. I like that saying. I fucking wrote it down. I'm fucking saying it. It's true though.
SPEAKER_02It is true. Is it true that people stop trusting the poser? Yes.
SPEAKER_06Because I actually worked with an actual poser who stole my work. And I fucking couldn't trust them at all. Yeah. Not at all. Even when they were like, oh, trust me. Like I'm trying to think of like when I worked outside of the office. Like when I was a waitress and when I worked for the one day at Deltasonic. Memories. Like I'm trying to think of all the bad people that I came in contact with.
SPEAKER_02There's some bad people out there.
SPEAKER_06There is some really nasty people out there. Yeah, they really do make you feel like high school isn't over.
SPEAKER_02You know, I'm only 4'10. I was definitely bullied when I was young. Even now, people still say some like, oh my God, how tall are you? And it's like, oh, yeah, well, 4'10. Um House, we went out and you sat in my child's child seat. I did. I did. I sat in the child's seat. It was quite comfortable. I was. That's amazing. But people, you know, and that's funny, you know, but some people are they'll they'll ask me, do you have a child seat? Do you have to sit in a booster seat? Oh my god, because there's a a rule that you have to be like, what is it, 4'11 or something?
SPEAKER_06I think it is.
SPEAKER_02But I think it is. I was like, well, I'm 41 years old, so I'm not gonna sit in a child seat. But I can if I wanted to.
SPEAKER_06I mean, I've never asked that question of you because I'm only five foot.
SPEAKER_01You're short too.
SPEAKER_02So that's it. It's nice to talk to someone face to face. And eye to eye.
SPEAKER_01Eye to eye.
SPEAKER_02Tooth to tooth, jaw to jaw. We are close in height. But but yeah, I mean, the I I guess I was kind of bullied growing up with how short I was. I mean, I was really small my whole life, like real petite, short.
SPEAKER_06I think I stopped growing after second grade.
SPEAKER_02They used to, I mean, they were me. I mean, looking back, like they would actually get in a lot of trouble nowadays if they said these things. You know, they'd call me a midget or they'd call me a dwarf or um, you know, make fun of, like, oh, like, oh, did your mom throw you in the dryer? And like, you know. Yeah, people were mean, but like back in the day, it would bother you, but it it wasn't like anything was done or said, or it wasn't taken seriously for anything.
SPEAKER_06And I don't take, I don't think I really take anything too seriously that anybody says.
SPEAKER_02No, you can't. Because if you do it, you'll be miserable. I'm just like uh whatever. Yeah, you just gotta let it roll. You know, I had the perm too, and that didn't help. Oh gosh, so big. So big, and that didn't help. So I got bullshit. You never saw a perm picture? No, I want you. I will I will find it.
SPEAKER_06You know what my worst you know what my worst era was? My middle school era because I had braces and Madonna was super popular then, and I cut my hair and I spiked it up high.
SPEAKER_02she did like in the in the um in her video like a virgin oh you didn't it was so bad and then for some god awful reason i thought i would look absolutely amazing with a bright fluorescent green and black striped shirt for picture day with my braces and my spiked hair oh fabulous god that is i i want to see your pictures i've never seen pictures of you when you were young believe it or not no one picked on me get out no no one picked on me uh at least not to your face that is amazing i i can't i mean i i actually look i i think that's pretty cool i would want to be your friend thanks i think i would really like your hair no you don't because mine was so thin and spiked i looked really really bad i don't know why my mom why my mom let me do it what the fuck did she let me do that oh that's how I feel about the perm I remember that morning I teased the hell out of my hair I mean just teased and teased and it was huge oh that's they called me socket girl I remember see bullies I remember walking by one of the tables at lunch and they were like there she is it's socket girl I'm like we were like where because I was only like three feet tall and I had the big hair it was just a big you know it was probably alarming it was alarming but I have to find it and I don't know where to find it you know what now that now that I'm looking back at the sheet and stuff like that when I did call my boss a poser he really was because he did steal ideas he stole everyone's ideas he did employees past employers it didn't start from other offices so I called him out earlier than what I realized that's brave of you I know I but like I said it wasn't I didn't say it meanly we just that's the way we bantered and I just thought it was gonna be okay but obviously it wasn't so I guess I was a bully to him so funny I yeah that's a funny memory from that party that was a fun time yeah that was a good that was we made it fun this time and then our last one for our last uh topic of a office bully classification I put in popular person because I truly feel like a popular person actually has the social environment to outcast someone yes I feel like I was a popular person yeah I would and if I really wanted to do that I could just be like fuck you yeah don't don't be her friend I believe I really think some people would have been like don't okay but I would never do that and I I just don't I don't like how to be like that to be honest.
SPEAKER_06When we even though we all agreed there was a group of us we all agreed to walk away from the situation you walked away first yeah because you were able to like get other things set up before we could but when you fell literally the social structure in that office fell it really did and it made everyone work harder to work to you know to walk out the door which was huge. So I think yeah I think you do have that you have that inspiring personality that you know people trust you and you are trustable you know it's trustable work I just like an uncrustable you are an uncrustable I think I just sounded like such a snob saying well I'm the popular person like everybody loved me no it wasn't it wasn't like that it was like people gravitate to you influence that I didn't use ever to my people graduate like they do they gravitate to you because you have that loving demeanor about you and you're very honest you're very open you're very good articulating things to people and I think that's what they they attract to you the most that I feel like if we were in an office setting a corporate setting you know I feel that if you said yeah that's not working for me and I I can tell you why and you would tell like a group of people they would all go and defend you and just be like yeah that's not working for all 150 of us.
SPEAKER_02But the thing is I never did that and I didn't know that I could or be that person until years later when I don't work in those environments anymore where my opinion matters. I mean it does matter at my job now but it's different. It's small it's like three people that I work with it's a very small um area of Buffalo. So it's you know not a big office full of people and but I never would voice anything I would never speak up and I but and I my husband has told me this like oh like you you you don't see how important you are or like you don't see what value you have to in this company. Like you you don't see it and your opinion really matters and like what if you spoke up it could change things but I never did it's definitely a regret of mine.
SPEAKER_06You did speak up once that you did tell me when you were walking out the door and they wanted to know your opinion and you sat down at the table and you did yeah speak up. I did and you said it did make you feel better leaving. Yeah you were leaving regardless of what yeah had happened but you actually were open with them and honest. And even them they like when you were leaving they still wanted you to stay even even after you told them all the truths of all the shit that was wrong and how they were bullying everybody.
SPEAKER_02They still wanted you to stay I know yeah that was that was funny. But yeah no I did I did that day because I I had never been that was a very very volatile situation that we had the office was in at that time right when I left I I couldn't have left at a better time right and I I just told them the truth and I and I I never really did that and I just was honest and I actually I was honest at the last place before that too when I left I I said straight up like I can't work here anymore. And and you know I had to be honest and but it and that was hard for me. It was really hard but once I started talking I felt comfortable but like in meetings or like but but it got to the point where there was it was the end. Right? You know walking out it was the end and I was leaving that's when I felt comfortable because I was gonna I'm gonna tell you exactly what how it is right but I'm gonna leave I have like a week left. And both of them wanted you to still stay and they both wanted me to stay but I I which proved to me that I could have yeah been more open and said more throughout my employment.
SPEAKER_06So we generated a quiz an office stereotype and which one are you and really it's it's for your own benefit you know because I took it I took it it's super simple it's six questions anybody can do six fucking questions it's uh A through G and the individuals are what we just discussed right now like uh the feisty bitches office bullies teachers pets wannabes posers and jocks and you find out which one you want to be and I'm gonna tell you that I got diagnosed as a wannabe I am a wannabe I don't I did I was I was say I got diagnosed like it's a medical condition. I do want the I do want the title the power of the LinkedIn announcement I am one of those I do like being like noticed and I like when you know someone notices the hard work that I put into something and they're like hey good job you know I like that I like that camaraderie I like I actually don't mind it when I have my coworkers come up to me and ask me how to do things I feel like I'm being useful.
SPEAKER_02You are you're you're very approachable easy to talk to you're patient and very thorough in explaining things so I mean I always went to you for questions everyone did because you were the person and you you're so knowledgeable in the field too so so 100% that was your your forte you would be a great teacher too just even a like a professor you know it's true I'm just telling you I'd have to go back to school I looked into it I know I don't know if I can go back to school again yeah who I've been out for so long times be a change and no one wants to go back to school and colleges are suffering so you might be able to do it without someday soon.
SPEAKER_06Right? Thank God for our youngins man a lot of them aren't going to college anymore so they can't afford it.
SPEAKER_01How are you supposed to go to college when rent is like two thousand dollars a mortgage if you own a house and then the house mortgages now are more than that.
SPEAKER_02Even just if you had a reasonable apartment say $700 a month how are you buying your groceries I can't believe I went to Trader Joe's today. It's fucking skinny two bags right you'd be starving to death you'd just be drinking vodka and eating Slim Jims and ramen stop it that's my diet and then that's all and then you just you you don't have you can't afford a car so you gotta walk everywhere so you're yeah living the dream yeah that's life now it's horrible Trader Joe's 150 two bags of groceries what shit I went you can't even get everything there.
SPEAKER_06I went to topp's the other day no it was Wegman's oh my god I went to Wegmans I felt so overwhelmed I didn't I don't normally shop at Wegmans because it's just so big for me and I get lost and I was literally pushing the cart down the aisle and I had so many people coming in so many different directions and I stopped and I literally went oh my god my anxiety's kicking in and everyone stopped and moved away from me because I went oh my god what did you do I was so stressed it's very stressful so anyways I think we bought eight items at Wegman's eight items Bill was $98 oh sure get in the car my husband looks at me and he goes we definitely didn't buy $98 worth of items and I'm like then you get home you have nothing to eat you're starving you're you you made like you have to make whatever it is you bought you you only bought ingredients you don't have food and you're hungry now it's like seven o'clock at night and you gotta fucking chop up vegetables you gotta boil water it's so true preheat the oven you might be searing in a pan I don't fucking know and but it then that $98 those eight items gone you ate it one day you would have been better getting a pizza it's and because at least you'd have leftovers I used to say you'd be better off going to McDonald's but that's expensive now too my god so you gotta get the pizza and a large and then you save some for lunch and breakfast and dinner for the next several days just crack an egg and scramble it on top make it a breakfast pizza yes you gotta do what you gotta do shit so which which one were you what was your stereotype I was mostly G's I was the popular person popular which is funny the social mare influence culture control the vibe and know the real gossip build alliances naturally office risk if you lean into gossip favoritism or exclusion you become the cafeteria gatekeeper that I hate to say that really is you it's so fucking funny everyone went to you for everything you knew so much knowledge even now today you tell me stories and I'm like get the fuck out of here they told you that I didn't know that I was like the you know and we talked about like they like I they would tell me stuff I just shouldn't have known about and I don't know I was very strange oh my god it's exhausting yeah no people did not approach people approached me for answers to work not gossip that I went to gossip for you and I would tell you because I knew I could trust you be like oh I'll tell you that's because I had no one else to tell you I still call you with gossip from like you know people that we knew like 10 years ago I'm like oh I gotta tell you something like someone just we don't even talk on Facebook you talk to them it's like how did I hear this it's like holy cow but somehow it makes a 360 and it works its way around it's absolutely crazy. It sure does well Josie do you have any words of encouragement for our listeners yeah of course if your work setting feels like high school remember this you don't have to be cold to survive the workday you don't have to become loud to be heard and you don't have to become fake to succeed keep building keep evolving keep your integrity beautiful thank you cubicle confessions signing off four years like four stars that's all you've got two