Ever had a job where a secretary had inordinate power over those who technically outranked her?

[yurbud]

I've seen this in three different fields: PR/entertainment, law, and college teaching.

In each case, some secretary with a nasty temperment was given free rein terrorize people so the boss wouldn't have to play "bad cop." For some reason, it can be more intimidating than if the person they are surrogates for were chewing your ass.

Maybe it's because that makes the boss like Jaws. You can't see him or her, you just feel your leg being bitten off by the secretary.

[ChoralScholar]

1. I had that happen at my current job.

Just play the politics game, and make them feel as important as they think they are. It'll be a smooth road from there on out.

[gr8dane_daddy]

2. Every job

!

[yurbud]

3. that's bad. I was hoping someone would tell me I'm nuts. I worked as a messenger for a couple of

years, and I never walked into an office I wasn't glad to walk out of 30 seconds later.

[radwriter0555]

4. How DO those women get SUCH power and still remain SO INCOMPETENT??? How on earth

does that happen? I've seen them for years!

I don't get it.. and they always hated ME.

[Bridget Burke]

5. What makes you think they are Incompetent?

They may be doing just what their bosses wants them to do.

[lukasahero]

18. And what makes them think they are women?

Men can't be secretaries?

[uncle ray]

39. a powerful male secretary

is called a CEO.

[radwriter0555]

102. Here's an example of incompetent: Boss's pet, the office bitch was in charge of

assembling the manuals that I wrote of the firms' business guidelines as framed by the SEC. I was the temp at the time.

She was putting together 50 of them. She proceeded to make 50 copies on regular paper and spent the next 2 days punching holes in all 50 copies, 75 pages each, so they could fit into 3 ring binders.

She didn't know you could order copy paper already 3 holed punched... Not a clue.

I told her when she was almost finished though.

[yurbud]

48. boss doesn't like giving crap to people, so he lets her be bad cop while he seems blissfully above

it all.

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. My husband has this at his job right now.

She thinks she owns them. He absolutely hates her and I go out of my way to be nasty, and dare I say even snobbish (as in, "you're beneath me" even though I'm not normally like that) whenever I see her or speak with her on the phone.

I will call,

She will ask,"Who is calling."

I will say,"Sweetie, now that's really none of your business is it? I mean if my husband actually worked for you, I might have to tell you. But he doesn't. So I won't."

[Little Wing]

7. doh

you kinda gave it away there

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. doh...I kind of do that on purpose.

I figured people would be smart enough to get that.

[Little Wing]

9. even secretaries?

you're generous

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. ...

:wtf:

Try and have a nice day Little Wing. This post was obviously too much for you. :hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

15. That's pretty nasty.

Did you mean it that way?

[Little Wing]

16. No

It was a tongue-in-cheek thing. I don't seriously judge people by their job titles.

[Midlodemocrat]

17. Okay. Good to know.

I guess I don't know you well enough to know that you were kidding.

[NashVegas]

23. If She's Directing Calls

It's natural she'll ask who it is. There are many of us who like or need to have that information in order to be prepped (or duck) the call.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. Except I'm the only person who has his work number and he doesn't

duck me. She's a nosy bitch. End of story. :hi:

[Marrah_G]

28. In my office

Nothing gets transfered unless they say who they are and where they are calling from. Telemarketers are sneaky little shits.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. Good for you. Not for this secretary. She doesn't get my name...if

there's a problem, her boss hears about it...from me. :hi: This is not a huge corporation and she knows who's calling.

[Marrah_G]

35. If she knows it is the spouse of an employee ...

... Then she is WAY out of line and I am wondering why the boss has not handled the situation. He has to have had complaints.

[Missy Vixen]

38. The boss is probably getting ready to lower the boom on the employee

for excessive personal phone calls.

IMHO, YMMV.
Julie

[ScreamingMeemie]

41. The boss is getting ready to lower the boom on my husband? Who gets

maybe 6 calls a year from me, and puts in Sundays? I don't think so. :shrug: Or am I misreading something.

[Pithlet]

45. If you call that infrequently, she may not recognize your voice.

If I'm taking a business call for someone else, I always ask who's calling. It's pretty much standard business etiquette, and it probably becomes second nature to someone who answerers business calls for a living. She probably isn't even aware she's asking it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. I know her personally, otherwise I'd give her the benefit of the doubt.

She's a backstabbing witch. In a nutshell. Her coworker, the office manager, can't stand her. If need be, I'll explain the long and drawn out situation. And continue to hold the same opinion. I answered the OP. This woman is out of control.

My mother works for a major bank. Do I leave my name when I call her? You bet. There's too many people. Different situation. But people here seem hell bent on pigeonholing everyone. One of the reasons why I wonder why I bother posting anymore,.

[Pithlet]

I didn't mean to pigeonhole you.

She may very well be purposefully asking who you are just to be a pain, but no matter how backstabbing and awful she is, she could still just be doing her job. I have a difficult time recognizing voices on the phone, even of people I know, and I know I've unintentionally offended people in the past because of this, so I'm probably a little sensitive about that. I didn't mean to imply anything about your situation, but I do understand why people are a little puzzled at your taking exception to what is a basic function of secretaries, no matter their personalities since you didn't provide the backstory.

[ScreamingMeemie]

57. Before I really lose my top over this, I truly do wish I hadnt vented about

a personal problem with a person with an obvious (and well known) personality defect. I thought that's what the OP was asking for. This is what is so f*cking disheartening at DU. I really wish people had actually read my post.

[Pithlet]

61. Well, I don't want to make you upset

I like you, and I'm honestly not judging your opinion of the woman. If you say she's doing it just to bug you, then I believe you. But, in defense of others in this thread, I think they're reacting understandably to what was written by you. I'll admit that I was initially taken back as well. My first thought was "Have I been wrong to ask all this time?" My very first job I was chewed out for handing the phone to my boss without telling her who was calling, and I never did it again at any job, regardless of how small and close knit we were. But, I should have known better than to get in the way of a good rant. It irritates me when people do that to me. I'm sorry

[ScreamingMeemie]

63. I don't, but there you have it. I responded to the OP and got attacked

by a bunch of people who have no real idea what the situation is. I'm sorry my response was to you Pithlet, I'm just sick of the misplaced outrage. Of course I leave my name with any number of receptionist's through out the day. The OP was asking about people who wield a sense of power over their coworkers...

This woman knows exactly who is calling and does it to be the you know what that she is.

Anyway...I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

[Pithlet]

74. I don't blame you for feeling attacked.

I think DU, particularly the lounge, is more like the group of friends who will sometimes be brutally honest and tell you like it is. The only problem is, unlike the RL group of friends, they can't always tell when you're honestly venting, and when that input is needed, and they're more likely to just jump in their and give their two cents on the situation. I don't think anyone meant to hurt and attack you, or at least I certainly didn't mean to, if that helps :hug:

[Missy Vixen]

82. MrsGrumpy, I was actually responding to another poster

I remember working with people whose spouses would call multiple times per day. My bosses, of course, kept tabs on that sort of thing. Since I'm not (and never have been,) the friendly neighborhood narco agent, if I knew the othe person well enough, I'd approach them and say, "Hey, FYI, Jim's (insert name of boss here,) got his shorts in a knot, just be careful, okay?"

I wish I knew how to advise on the person who's making your life hard right now. I'm not sure what her issue is.
I, of course, would be thrilled to talk with such a nice person as yourself on a daily basis ;-). :hi:

Julie

[Tyrone Slothrop]

34. I'm a secretary/personal assistant

And I just have to say that I really despise people who call and refuse to tell you who they are/why they are calling.

If I tell my boss that there's a call for him, but I can't tell him A) Who they are, B) Where they are calling from or C) What case it pertains to then I get my ass chewed out because of it.

So when a person calls my office and can't even be bothered to respect or honor the most fucking basic phone etiquette, well, fuck them. I realize that the sheer indignity of actually speaking to someone SO beneath you is pretty overwhelming, but we're just trying to do our fucking jobs.

I'm SO sorry that you're SO inconvenienced by having to speak your name when you call an office...
:sarcasm:

(Btw, if you're going to bring up voice recognition, well, I take about 200-300 calls per day. I don't necessarily recognize every voice that calls on demand.)

[Missy Vixen]

37. Isn't that the truth?

>I take about 200-300 calls per day<

I used to deal with anything from an 11 to 16 line phone. All day long.

My husband's former employers asked if I would be willing to fill in for their admin assistant for a few days. They were hoping to avoid a temp, and I knew the office, so I said I'd do it. My husband told me later that he was shocked at how hard my job was. (?) I said to him that typically, the secretary is the lowest-paid in the office, and expected to produce projects for several other people in the office besides her own work.

Julie

[Patiod]

40. Who is your avatar?

Just kidding....

[Missy Vixen]

83. Oh, some guy who probably has a secretary of his own

Of course, if he's in need of secretarial help, I might be persuaded to come out of retirement. He wouldn't even have to pay me!

Julie

[ScreamingMeemie]

43. This secretary is not the lowest paid in the office...not by a long shot.

I think we all need to breathe and realize we don't all deal with the same situations day to day.

[ScreamingMeemie]

42. Let's get one thing clear. This is a shop with 15 employees. This

is also a shop that doesn't get a lot of phone calls because it's what's called a supplier...S-u-p-p-l-i-e-r. In other words, to make it easy for you, who works in a different situation, to understand, nobody has the number n-u-m-b-e-r that these calls are taken on except for spouses and 1 or two machine shops. So you can take your indignity elsewhere. K?

No need for sarcasm in my post, I mean what I'm saying to you. Although It would be nice for this secretary to apologize to me for being the ***** that she is. And no, I won't ever leave my name. None of hers, or your, business.

[MissMillie]

59. if you don't want to leave your name, that's fine

but realize that her boss has probably expected her to screen calls, and if she can't you're not likely to get his/her (the boss's) attention.

[ScreamingMeemie]

60. No. He doesn't. It's not a receptionist position where one deals with a lot

of phone calls. The other woman in the office actually converses about our lives. This is the kind of shop my husband works in...but I should have known better to vent about one person's personality problem here.

Of course it makes me a horrible person.

[MissMillie]

72. I didn't say that

:hug: and I think you know I would never say that.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

65. Who's really being the ***** here?

When my boss's wife calls, she's polite and usually says something to the effect of "Hi, Tyrone. Can I speak to Bob? This is his wife."

And I patch her right through. It's not that hard to be polite when you call someone. Maybe you should try it sometime.

Or keep on being Queen Rude to people whom your husband employs. I'm sure they have the nicest things to say about you.

[ScreamingMeemie]

68. Which is exactly how I speak to the other woman in the office.

And I get sent right through. She doesn't even have to ask. Because she's not punch drunk on an inflated sense of self, which was my reason for responding to the OP in the first place. She's also highly respected and admired, because she's a genuinely nice person. That goes a long way. I give what I get.

[Midlodemocrat]

76. I'm POSITIVE that the employees have only the nicest things to say about Mrs. G.

She's a doll. One of the sweetest posters here. So, you're being a tad presumptive that she's Queen Rude, dude.

[Phillycat]

49. I have to agree here.

Sorry, Mrs Grumpy, but it is just common courtesy to give your name when you call a business, no matter how small it is. I give my name 1000 times a day, to people I talk to over and over. They know my voice, but it's just more polite for me to say, "Hey, it's Cat" and then launch into whatever I called about.

And I worked as a receptionist and you wouldn't believe how many people expected you to remember your voice even though I was taking hundreds of calls a day! It's like, you're not that special! Heh.

EDITED TO ADD: And I read above that Mrs Grumpy, you only call this office 6 times a year? How would she recognize your voice over the phone?

[ScreamingMeemie]

52. I've worked as a receptionist as well. This woman is not one of those.

And I really do wish people would really read my post and realize that this is more than just what they're tending to see it as. But such is the case on DU. I'm sorry, but this woman is a witch. I've worked as a receptionist as well. I also hold receptionists, secretaries, assessors, in high regard (and leave my name). I leave my name at my mom's work, my mil's and my father's. This woman has an attitude problem. Hence my reason for doing what I do. But nobody read that... so let the pile on begin. It's what we do best here.

[Phillycat]

64. I did read your post.

You said:

I will call,

She will ask,"Who is calling."

I will say,"Sweetie, now that's really none of your business is it? I mean if my husband actually worked for you, I might have to tell you. But he doesn't. So I won't."

And I'm sorry, but that just comes across as really nasty. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was piling on. I know you're a nice person generally and you must have your reasons. But if someone spoke to me that way in a business environment, I would think it was really inappropriate and rude. I think that's what people are reacting to. :shrug:

I'm sorry if I offended you.

EDIT: wanted to add: What would happen if you were nice to her, just as an experiment? Maybe the situation would improve? More flies with honey, etc.

[ScreamingMeemie]

66. She's a witch, gets what she deserves, and I'm completely sorry

that I trusted DU enough to vent about a problem. You get what you give, this woman gets what she gives out.

[Mad_Dem_X]

50. THANK YOU!

I am a receptionist, and whenever any of the bigwigs gets a call, I have to ask who it is and from where they are calling. Identifying yourself shouldn't be an inconvenience.

[ScreamingMeemie]

56. For Cripe's Sake. Read my post.

It isn't about her being a receptionist. It's about her being a flaming you-know-what to everyone if the goddamned shop...including the woman she works with in the front office...where they field (tops) 20 calls a day. For God's sake. Thanks for letting me vent about a personal problem DU...You're a real SWELL Group of people.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

67. All you said is that she asks "Who's calling?"

How is that being a "flaming you-know-what"?

[ScreamingMeemie]

69. "She thinks she owns them" n/t

[SOteric]

77. I'd be really tempted

to put on an unplaceable accent and give that secretary the name "Watta Gusai Am."

[astral]

94. I would never remember the voice of someone who called six times a year N/T

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

99. She is the *only* person who has her husband's work number.

If she is the ONLY person, it's not too hard to remember.

[radwriter0555]

103. I'm a boss and if someone refuses to give their name to my secretary

then I won't talk to them.

I don't tolerate rudeness, and I don't waste time talking to strangers.

[graywarrior]

10. my last job, the bookkeeper ran the show. Then she got arrested for embezzlement

[wildhorses]

12. my current boss and his secret society of spies, of which his

secretary is the ring leader...gawd, i HATE this place:rant:

my boss is a fucktard:grr:

[xmas74]

13. I was a secretary at a place

where that became part of my job. I was to be the go-between and the nasty bitch. My boss would tell me which employees he wanted to quit and would ask me to try to "run them off."

I didn't last very long. I couldn't handle it.

[NewJeffCT]

22. that would suck as a job

I'm sorry that somebody even came up with that idea to have to put you through it. What a mean person.

[xmas74]

78. We had to know about every phone call coming into the

place and who was making the calls. ("May I ask who is calling?" was because our boss said I had to ask and ask the nature of the call.)

And if he had hired someone he later didn't like I was to run them off. I hated that the most and didn't do a good job. Eventually, he found someone to run me off.

[Missy Vixen]

88. I once had to call screen Gary Hart

I was on a contracting job.

>ask the nature of the call<

The employers in question, the former AT&T international group, insisted that I do the above. Mr. Hart was calling their former CEO, who evidently was a friend of his. He was VERY nasty -- "I don't need to discuss this with you." He may be a nice man in person, but I sure as hell wasn't left with a good impression of him, especially that day.

The story that still makes me laugh is when I was on a contracting job at a software company in Seattle, and Barry Diller was due to meet with the CEO there. The other secretaries (who'd spent their time looking down their noses at me,) had no idea what the man looked like. They had been told to intercept him the minute he stepped off the elevator so he wouldn't have to waste his time waiting for the meeting. It was one of those situations -- take the high road and help, or watch what happened when someone too stupid to either look him up online or glance through a recent issue of "Vanity Fair" (he'd just tried to buy CBS, for instance,) tried to work in an office in which prominent CEO's and celebrities passed through on a daily basis.

I took the high road. He was very gracious to me when I greeted him by name as he stepped off the elevator.

Julie

[xmas74]

90. And that is the nature of the job.

Some don't do their work while those who do tend to get blamed for everything else.

[idgiehkt]

81. I think alot of them are put in positions they don't want to be in

when I was a receptionist I was expected to find out the identity of every caller, without exception, and would get in trouble for transferring calls without id-ing the caller, with the exception of the boss's mistress, whose voice I was expected to recognize immediately and transfer to him without ever asking the two questions I was required to ask of every caller a) who's calling, and b) what is this concerning. He would get REALLY pissed if anyone slipped up and asked his mistress either of these two questions if he found out about it, which alot of us did occasionally because when you are doing any kind of phone work whether it's secretarial/telemarketing, whatever, you become a robot and do everything by rote after a while.

[xmas74]

86. I think they are too.

A friend worked as a receptionist while in college and she reported similar instances.

I think that some view secretary/receptionist is "company spy".

[cwydro]

14. This is going on where I work also.... nt

[MissMillie]

19. ssshhhh... you're going to blow my cover

:silly:

[Kajsa]

20. I've taught in schools where a teacher

told the principal who to hire and who not to.

One in particular is a department chair and she's
very nasty and two faced.

The hiring goes by her preferences, not by who's most qualified.

:grr:

[yurbud]

51. you know it's funny, I teach college, and the focus of power varies dramatically from school to

school.

At one school, the person I need to talk to to get things done is the dean. At another, it's the department chair. And unfortunately, at the one I started with, the choke point is this secretary.

[Midlodemocrat]

79. Boy does it ever.

When I was teaching, the focus of power at my first school was the guidance secretary of all things.

I was freakin' terrified of her.

[NewJeffCT]

21. I'd blame the boss & not the secretary

In the corporate environment, we've been calling them "administrative assistants" for years, or "admin" for short.

The boss most likely is looking for a certain type of personality when he/she hires an admin: A person that has trouble making meetings on time may want an admin that will take control of their schedule and to make sure that nobody unscheduled interrupts their time.

The boss may also want to see how his admin does with more responsibility as well - we had a woman like that in our department, who went from an admin to an accounting job once she completed her bachelor's degree.

I've found that just being nice and showing respect is the best way to deal with an admin who has a lot of power. Treat them like they are a key player, because they might very well be.

[NashVegas]

24. Thank You

I've always worked for small businesses. Of the admin's who had some power, only two out of maybe fifteen were that annoying. And what made them annoying, I think, what that they were both frustrated with their roles and wanted some of the glory the "titled" people get. As a result, they were constantly getting into other people's shit.

There were also a few who I couldn't have imagined our business running without.

[yurbud]

53. roughly the same in Hollywood, though they call the upwardly mobile ones "assistants"

and those who aren't are secretaries.

The former usually are given more latitude in how they do things, and the latter can only be depended on for routine tasks (though they might be more reliable at those).

[NewJeffCT]

62. I've been lucky so far

The admins I've worked with over the past almost 20 years that have had a lot of power have also been very competent... though, I will admit they probably wouldn't be nicknamed "sunshine" or similar - I would even joke (when I was out of the office), that one admin had a 2nd job as "Mistress Jennifer" after she started wearing short leather skirts around the office.

[XemaSab]

25. All the admins where I work (and there are like 6 of them)

are bitchy, peevish, and not very good at what they do.

For example, the other day I submitted an expense report. God forbid I should hand it to the admin who does them, or put it on her desk, no, it has to go in her mailbox. So I gave her an expense report, and she gave it back to me saying it needed a project number. Then about 5 minutes later she sent out an email to the whole office asking people not to put more than one project number on an expense report. I told her that the report was going to have, like, 10 project numbers on it and she was like "Just give me the numbers."

You can't win.

[ohiosmith]

26. Yes. She was a 38D.

[yurbud]

55. And you're afraid she'll fire one of those big guns at you?

[kwassa]

27. The secretary only has the power the boss lets her have.

and it usually the boss abdicating their responsibility to manage. It is quite amazing how many managers don't manage, and how they reached that position where they need to.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. No, but I've known cases in which the secretary was more competent

than her boss.

My great-aunt was secretary to the head of development at a college in the Twin Cities. Her boss's day appeared to consist of having lunch with potential donors, doing crossword puzzles, and jawing with the other administrators. My great-aunt was the one who knew how to actually do the legwork and paperwork that comes with acquiring and maintaining property for expansion and making sure that bequests and donations from alumni actually reach the college.

This was also true in one of my teaching jobs. I swear, the dean's secretary ran the academic affairs of the college. She was the one to go to with questions and requests, not the amiable but ineffectual dean. She retired mid-year, and the news of her impending retirement caused far more consternation among the faculty than the news that had come out just a couple of weeks before, namely that the college president was retiring.

On second thought, the head of the printing department at that same college was not to be crossed. If she liked you, you got prompt, cheerful service. If she didn't, either because you continually gave her rush jobs or because she just disapproved of you somehow, your copies never seemed to be ready on time, or they were collated in the wrong order or something else was wrong with them.

[yurbud]

58. I have had the positive experience too, and have a lot of respect for those people like I do for

anyone who does their job well and with obvious satisfaction.

It's just the Torquemada's with a typewriter that bug me.

[Sequoia]

32. I know what you mean.

Because I was That Girl at one time. So when the guys from a huge Red State came to work there one of them was really upset that I had so much control over the building. He was the type that thought only upper management should have offices with windows or a corner office. Also, he hated that I brought my pre-school child to work one morning for a few hours, hated that I distrubted the checks, made facility decisions, etc. However, my boss, bless him, trusted me. In the end many of us administrative types were laid off, and the giggly girls who buttered-up the red state guys got to stay and I was out of the game.

[Missy Vixen]

33. No, but I've worked for many incompetent bosses in my time

I'm a former secretary. I was very good at what I did, and I remained a secretary because I wanted to be able to walk out of the office at 5 PM and forget about work till I had to be there the next morning. I was always amused by those who attempted to pump up their own importance by being nasty to people like me. Secretaries (most like to be called "administrative assistants" now,) know where the bodies are buried. They know who's doing their jobs, who isn't, who's having an affair with whom and who should have been fired long ago. Every office I ever worked in featured the following: One person without which the office would have fallen apart, and one whose employment retention was due to factors nobody else could understand.

First of all, the reason the secretary is most likely asking whom is on the telephone before transferring the call: It's required of her by the person who signs her paycheck, even if she knows who's calling. If the secretary is running the business, she's been told to, again, by the person who signs her paycheck.

I went out of my way to be pleasant and friendly to those in the office. Those who treated me cordially got the "walk through the wall" treatment. Those were the folks I bent over backwards to make their lives easier, make sure their projects were done on time and that they got important phone calls. Those who were nasty or demeaning to me? I waited. Sooner or later, something would fall through the cracks, and I just let it happen.

I have made sure that my husband treats the admin assistant at his current office very well. She's been very gracious to him in return.

Julie

[ScreamingMeemie]

44. Julie, I would agree with you except for the fact that I know this woman

on a personal basis. The long and the short of it is that she's a wicked woman, swelled by an inflated sense of control. That's it. There is another woman who works in the office who is a wonderful, conscientious, and worth every penny woman. This is not the woman I was discussing. If my husband worked in a company that handled 200-300 calls a day, I'd leave my name. He doesn't, so I won't.

[tigereye]

47. that's been my experience, too, Julie

be nice to the secretaries cuz they know what is going on and where all the bodies are buried. And be nice to the cleaning staff as well. I've always been nice to all those folks and it has always paid off when I was in a bureaucratic or deadline jam of some sort....

[Missy Vixen]

87. This is the truth

>I've always been nice to all those folks and it has always paid off<

My husband's admin has saved his bacon on several occasions now. She's the greatest.

When I was still a city councilperson, I was appalled at the treatment lower-level staff members got from the other elected officials. I went out of my way to make sure that they knew how much I valued what they did and how great of a job they did as well. (Water Shutoff Day, for instance -- they should get combat pay.)

I'm sorry for the situation MrsGrumpy's going through. I wish there was a way to impress on her husband's employer that the secretary is coloring the impressions clients/customers get of that company as well, and I'm sure she gets some of them on the phone, too.

After I stopped working for one employer, I was a contractor for several years. If I got into an office setting in which I was being mistreated, I'd simply end my contract and go elsewhere. I realize most people don't have that flexibility.

Julie

[Mad_Dem_X]

54. Great post, Julie!

I don't think many "outsiders" understand what it is like to be a secretary/receptionist, especially when you have to work with people who look down on you.

[lukasahero]

80. In (eek) 20 years of corporate work, I've learned there's one thing you need to know to survive:

Treat the admins with respect.

First, they deserve it.

Second, they don't get it enough.

And third, it makes it so much easier when you need something. ;)

Seriously, if people think the CEO runs the company, they have never spent time in the presence of the CEO's admin.

[trof]

36. Law office. Bingo.

[Beausoir]

70. God, when I was a fledgling teacher, the school secretary was BRUTAL

to me. She ridiculed my every question or move. Deliberately slowed-down when she was asked to work on a project for me.

Just went out of her way to be mean and nasty. I was the only one she could pick on, besides the little kids.

Wish I had that to do over again. I would've set her straight the first day.

[femmocrat]

91. School secretaries can be very authoritarian.

I ran into a similar situation when I started with my current district. The secretary hated me, withheld my mail, gave me erroneous information, and made my life miserable. I don't know what I ever did to tick her off. She should have never been allowed near children, because she was so nasty. She ended up getting sick, using up all of her sick days, and had to retire. I heard she was working for a physician's answering service. Imagine entrusting her with people's health! Good grief.

[Beausoir]

93. Yep. So now she can prey upon sick people. Sounds like the same person I

had.

Fortunately, the good outweighs the bad in the schools.

[Midlodemocrat]

71. Am I the ONLY one here who read Mrs. G's post?

1. *She* is the only one with her husband's number, ergo she is the only one calling.

2. The phone answerer is being a put upon shrew with an inflated sense of self.

Over and out.

[ScreamingMeemie]

73. Thank you Midlo...

:hug:

I guess I needed to clarify with three paragraphs on how much hell this woman has put my husband through. "She thinks she owns them" wasn't enough. I thought I was among friends and could vent here...I thought people knew me enough to realize that I wouldn't go out of my way to be rude (and even said so in my opening post) to a person who didn't deserve. I won't make that mistake again.

Thanks so much. :hug: I appreciate it more than you know.

[belladonna]

84. Hey MrsGrumpy, you ARE among friends

I got exactly what you meant but then, I tend to READ posts before I go off in a tizzy and post insulting crap :hug:

[Puglover]

75. No shit Midlo.

I'm thinking that many of the folks on this thread might bone up on their reading comprehension skills. Seemed perfectly clear to me and suddenly people are saddling up their self righteous soapboxes.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

89. Nope, I read it, too.

I find the absolute lack of reading comprehension skills, around here, appalling at times.

[LostinVA]

97. No, you're not

The ONLY way someone could misread it is if they wanted to misread it.

[Blue_In_AK]

85. I WAS that secretary.

:evilgrin: although I didn't have a nasty temperament. I was the iron fist inside the velvet glove.

[yurbud]

95. so that's why so few people live in Alaska...

[Blue_In_AK]

96. Haha.

I was kidding really. All my ex bosses loved me, and the last one even cried when I said I wasn't staying on when the firm downsized.

[yurbud]

98. what about the subordinates? Did their heads on sticks cry?

sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Blue_In_AK]

100. Really, REALLY I was just kidding.

I ran a tight ship, but I was never mean to anybody, I promise. If people around me (I had no subordinates) didn't pull their weight, I just did it myself. That included correcting the horrible writing skills of the smartass lawyer I worked for. That's the problem with being competent.

[yurbud]

104. so how did you get those scalps on your belt?

[bertha katzenengel]

92. If every legal secretary in DC called in sick on the same day, Congress would disband

and the legal profession in DC would crumble to dust.

[Blue_In_AK]

101. You got it, Bertha...

As a 25-year former legal secretary myself ... I think people would be amazed at how much we do.