Pet Peeves IV

[DH1875]

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I hate to tell you this HB, but there is already free wifi with some airlines!

I think ones I’ve been on have been something like free for messaging apps only, but it’s coming 😁

Most long haul flights have WiFi.

[Northernhibee]

There’s someone at my local ParkRun who annoys me. She must be in her late fifties but clearly has been running for a bit. The local one is quite hilly and can be quite muddy so is challenging if you’ve got your footwear wrong or if you’re not used to that surface or gradient.

She keeps overtaking people and making comments such as “come on, someone my age shouldn’t be overtaking someone your age”. I finish ahead of her now, and I’ve had a very friendly word before about how offputting it can be to someone who is new to running rather than motivating. Left it in a friendly, polite way, but a friend of mine got the same comments on the way past just this week.

[Moulin Yarns]

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There’s someone at my local ParkRun who annoys me. She must be in her late fifties but clearly has been running for a bit. The local one is quite hilly and can be quite muddy so is challenging if you’ve got your footwear wrong or if you’re not used to that surface or gradient.

She keeps overtaking people and making comments such as “come on, someone my age shouldn’t be overtaking someone your age”. I finish ahead of her now, and I’ve had a very friendly word before about how offputting it can be to someone who is new to running rather than motivating. Left it in a friendly, polite way, but a friend of mine got the same comments on the way past just this week.

That's bad. I'll go slower to help and give encouragement if I can, even finishing together. I don't think I'll be able to get another PB at my local Parkrun, considering it's the 3rd toughest in Scotland.

[Northernhibee]

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That's bad. I'll go slower to help and give encouragement if I can, even finishing together. I don't think I'll be able to get another PB at my local Parkrun, considering it's the 3rd toughest in Scotland.

I’ve had a couple of comments in competitive races, but more along the lines of “surely you’re not having to walk with only a kilometre to go” but that’s in OCR races and it’s a different environment. It’s usually delivered with a bit of a nudge and a wink too, I don’t mind it.

I think she sees it as encouragement but when I was starting at ParkRuns way back when and struggling badly and feeling out of place, it was pretty cutting.

[Pretty Boy]

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There’s someone at my local ParkRun who annoys me. She must be in her late fifties but clearly has been running for a bit. The local one is quite hilly and can be quite muddy so is challenging if you’ve got your footwear wrong or if you’re not used to that surface or gradient.

She keeps overtaking people and making comments such as “come on, someone my age shouldn’t be overtaking someone your age”. I finish ahead of her now, and I’ve had a very friendly word before about how offputting it can be to someone who is new to running rather than motivating. Left it in a friendly, polite way, but a friend of mine got the same comments on the way past just this week.

I'd have to say something to her and I'm glad you did.

Making comments like that would be bad enough in a competitive race but even more so at an event like ParkRun which is a 'run not a race' and all that. It's just ego boosting herself and nothing to do with encouraging anyone else, no way she believes it is. ParkRun is a pretty gentle way for people to get into running and if people want to jog it, walk it or go all out for a time then they should be able to do that without someone passing comment.

[Northernhibee]

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I'd have to say something to her and I'm glad you did.

Making comments like that would be bad enough in a competitive race but even more so at an event like ParkRun which is a 'run not a race' and all that. It's just ego boosting herself and nothing to do with encouraging anyone else, no way she believes it is. ParkRun is a pretty gentle way for people to get into running and if people want to jog it, walk it or go all out for a time then they should be able to do that without someone passing comment.

The tone she used made me think that she didn’t mean it in that way - but either she’s slipped into bad habits again or genuinely didn’t care.
I encourage a couple of friends of mine at the start of their fitness journey - inviting them to ParkRuns if I’m there or checking in on them if they’ve gone and I’ve not, and offering advice if they ask for it. I remember how self conscious I was when I first started going and was struggling to break 40 minutes as I couldn’t run the length of myself, and that didn’t ever help.


At the Perth park run, there was a much older guy when I used to go. He must have been in his seventies. Occasionally chatted to him afterwards as when I was at my heaviest my inability to run for long meant he would beat me with his impressively consistent pace. Let it slip that he was my target to beat as I got fitter - as we were on speaking terms I think he enjoyed that, but if I’d come out with that to a stranger that would be a very ****ty thing to do.

Not been to Perth in a while as it’s a journey, and not seen him there when I have. Hope he’s doing well. It’s a very flat parkrun so great for chasing a PB.

[Moulin Yarns]

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I'd have to say something to her and I'm glad you did.

Making comments like that would be bad enough in a competitive race but even more so at an event like ParkRun which is a 'run not a race' and all that. It's just ego boosting herself and nothing to do with encouraging anyone else, no way she believes it is. ParkRun is a pretty gentle way for people to get into running and if people want to jog it, walk it or go all out for a time then they should be able to do that without someone passing comment.

It's demoralising enough when you get lapped by a guy pushing a toddler in a buggy or, as happened last week a guy carrying a toddler in a thing on his back!! 🤣

[Moulin Yarns]

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The tone she used made me think that she didn’t mean it in that way - but either she’s slipped into bad habits again or genuinely didn’t care.
I encourage a couple of friends of mine at the start of their fitness journey - inviting them to ParkRuns if I’m there or checking in on them if they’ve gone and I’ve not, and offering advice if they ask for it. I remember how self conscious I was when I first started going and was struggling to break 40 minutes as I couldn’t run the length of myself, and that didn’t ever help.


At the Perth park run, there was a much older guy when I used to go. He must have been in his seventies. Occasionally chatted to him afterwards as when I was at my heaviest my inability to run for long meant he would beat me with his impressively consistent pace. Let it slip that he was my target to beat as I got fitter - as we were on speaking terms I think he enjoyed that, but if I’d come out with that to a stranger that would be a very ****ty thing to do.

Not been to Perth in a while as it’s a journey, and not seen him there when I have. Hope he’s doing well. It’s a very flat parkrun so great for chasing a PB.

Aye perth was my 3rd fastest I think, but I found it boring compared to faskallyforest.

[Pretty Boy]

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It's demoralising enough when you get lapped by a guy pushing a toddler in a buggy or, as happened last week a guy carrying a toddler in a thing on his back!! 🤣

A low point in my running career was definitely when a guy dressed as a postbox breezed past me at the 21 mile marker in the London marathon😂

[Moulin Yarns]

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A low point in my running career was definitely when a guy dressed as a postbox breezed past me at the 21 mile marker in the London marathon😂

Context is everything! I'm twice their age 😉 Maybe the postbox had a delivery time 🤣

[overdrive]

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A low point in my running career was definitely when a guy dressed as a postbox breezed past me at the 21 mile marker in the London marathon😂

My most demoralising encounter in a run was during a half marathon in Glasgow. A guy dressed as Borat kept overtaking - but it wasn't the grey suit costume - it was the wig, moustache and mankini and nothing else. You would then go past him to get him out of your sight and then 5 minutes later he would speed up an overtake again. Repeat the entire race.

[lyonhibs]

Running hill races in Switzerland can be highly demoralising as I'm pretty decent, firmly mid table for my age and gender etc, but this still means at least 3 wiry Swiss grannies nipping past me on the climbs 😂

[overdrive]

Senior management: it is important to take a break from your desk, get out and get some exercise and fresh air at lunchtime

Also senior management: here, please accept these invites to back to back meetings between 11 and 4.

[RyeSloan]

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Senior management: it is important to take a break from your desk, get out and get some exercise and fresh air at lunchtime

Also senior management: here, please accept these invites to back to back meetings between 11 and 4.

In a similar vein all senior managers seem to be able to ‘recharge their batteries’ with a week off.

Personally after a week off the last thing I feel like is ‘re-charged’…I’m just seek that it’s gone already and I’m back at the desk

[McD]

Men’s public toilets (shopping centres, etc). On the majority of occasions needing to use the facilities, they are disgusting.

And I’m not blaming cleaners here for the most part, it’s the minging pricks who piss all over the toilet seats, locks broken off doors, puddles of urine on the floor. I went into one this evening that not only had urine over the seat, but also had a footprint on it? Wtf?

Who actually does this kind of thing? Utter ****bags

[McD]

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In a similar vein all senior managers seem to be able to ‘recharge their batteries’ with a week off.

Personally after a week off the last thing I feel like is ‘re-charged’…I’m just seek that it’s gone already and I’m back at the desk

Or the managers who quote the rules at you, but happy to bend them for themselves: ‘Oh you want 2 weeks and 2 days off because of when your flights are? Ooooh, well, you know the rules are anything over 2 weeks need additional aproval’.

2 months later: ‘right guys, off on holiday, see you in 3 weeks’.



Or the ones who play the martyr act, when the reality is they’ve used up their holidays at other times of the year. Once had a manager whine for the full December about how we were all lucky (all 2 of us!) that she’d ‘agreed’ to cover the Christmas break so that we could have time off with family - Eh naw, it’s because you went to turkey in august, a cruise in October then booked 3 and a half weeks in South Africa in January and a girly week to Morocco in April, so you had no leave left

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Good few years ago now, one of the heavy snow winters maybe 2012, my senior manager had received an email saying staff were to make their way home because of the snow. He ****ed off without saying a word to anyone and it was two hours before we were told to go home from another manager. This was at RBS!

[Mon Dieu4]

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Good few years ago now, one of the heavy snow winters maybe 2012, my senior manager had received an email saying staff were to make their way home because of the snow. He ****ed off without saying a word to anyone and it was two hours before we were told to go home from another manager. This was at RBS!

Can't remember if it was 2017/18 but we had mental snow for a few days and Edinburgh ground to a halt, out of my team of 20 only two people in my department made it into the office, me and senior manager, I had walked into work and it took me over an hour, it was before you could work from home so I was left trying to replace 20 people as best I could

About 3pm I noticed all the other folk that had made it in leaving, thought the manager would notice and say to me you can just go as well and thanks for your efforts in getting in

At 4pm I bit the bullet and went up to them and said do you mind if I leave early as it's going to take me over an hour to walk home again in all this snow, had expected them to say oh sorry I didn't notice you can go now, they turned round and after acting like id asked for 6 months paid leave they said aye you can leave at 4.30

I was due to finish at 5

[Moulin Yarns]

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Good few years ago now, one of the heavy snow winters maybe 2012, my senior manager had received an email saying staff were to make their way home because of the snow. He ****ed off without saying a word to anyone and it was two hours before we were told to go home from another manager. This was at RBS!

I remember a day when the boss couldn't make it in, I'm about 5x further away and made it in, but the funny thing was a colleague had driven from Kirkcaldy to Perth and actually passed the bosses house.

[Pretty Boy]

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Senior management: it is important to take a break from your desk, get out and get some exercise and fresh air at lunchtime

Also senior management: here, please accept these invites to back to back meetings between 11 and 4.

When I was younger I had a real distaste for middle management. I often found them to be officious, jobsworths and sticklers for daft rules.

As I've gone through working life I now find myself feeling heart sorry for them. They are basically the workhorses charged with implementing the hare brained schemes of senior managers who really have minimal idea of what is going on at the coal face. They are sponges who soak up a lot of bad feeling that should really be aimed higher up the chain. Don't get me wrong there are still a lot of people in such positions who are 'yes men/women' and blindly loyal to company policy but for the most part they are underpaid and underappreciated for the dirty work they have to do.

I often wonder what some of the senior management in my work do. I work fairly closely with our MD. I was off last week and my direct line manager was delighted to see me back as she had to pick up a lot of the slack with work I usually do (and tbh I'm never really fully on holiday, in my industry and line of work if my phone rings and it's a customer then you answer almost regardless). She is off next week and I'm dreading it because I act up during her holidays and it's a big additional workload for me. She is one of those people who is really nice but unpopular with many because she has to enforce the daft policies. The MD is on holiday this week and no one seems to really have to do anything additional to cover his absence. We are in a big open plan office and he seems to spend 90% of his time getting up to look out the window, staring at the CCTV screen that covers the back of the building or phoning people to arrange his golf for the weekend. When he actually has to do any work everyone knows about it because the sighing and head in his hands nonsense starts.

[overdrive]

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Or the managers who quote the rules at you, but happy to bend them for themselves: ‘Oh you want 2 weeks and 2 days off because if when your flights are? Ooooh, well, you know the rules are anything over 2 weeks need additional aproval’.

2 months later: ‘right guys, off on holiday, see you in 3 weeks’.



Or the ones who play the martyr act, when the reality is they’ve used up their holidays at other times do the year. Once had a manager whine for the full December about how we were all lucky (all 2 of us!) that she’d ‘agreed’ to cover the Christmas break so that we could have time off with family - Eh naw, it’s because you went to turkey in august, a cruise in October then booked 3 and a half weeks in South Africa in January and a girly week to Morocco in April, so you had no leave left

Sounds like a former boss of mine.

She initially knocked back a colleague's request for 2 and a half weeks off for his wedding and honeymoon because it was over 2 weeks - despite there being no policy saying that you couldn't take longer than 2 weeks off. In fact, in my previous team in the same organisation, it was the done thing to take more than 2 weeks off in the summer. Nevertheless, it was his wedding and honeymoon!!! He eventually got it but there were lots of pointed comments towards him. Roll forward 9 months, and the same manager that kicked up a fuss saying 2.5 weeks was way too much to take in one go, goes off on holiday for 4 weeks to visit her husband's family in Australia.

Then at Christmas, my work shuts down over the Christmas period. Another colleague asked for 2 weeks off directly prior to Christmas. "But that's almost 4 weeks you will be off, you can't do that" (again nothing saying you can't). She eventually approved it but rather aggressively told my colleague, in front of us all, if she "tried to pull that one next year, it won't be approved". This after her taking 4 weeks off herself earlier in the year. We were all off for two of those four weeks. All her contacts are internal so would also be off, so what's the issue. Plus, the colleague had been off long-term sick so hadn't been able to take her leave, which you are meant to make allowances for.

My ex-wife's sister was getting married and they chose to get married abroad at my busiest time of year. Foreseeing this would be an issue, I went to my boss to explain the situation and this happened to be 13 months before the wedding. She was actually quite sound about it. "These things happen, we'll plan around it, it is a one-off family occasion", etc. Gets to 4 months out from the wedding and we are doing planning and I remind her about the time I'm off for the wedding. It becomes a massive issue. Lots of snarky comments in my direction.

I had a different boss in a different organisation who kept knocking back requests from people to work condensed working weeks/fortnights for childcare reasons saying "it is too disruptive". This despite the fact, she herself worked a condensed week. Someone went above her head and I think she was spoken to and all of a sudden the previously rejected requests were approved.

[McD]

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Sounds like a former boss of mine.

She initially knocked back a colleague's request for 2 and a half weeks off for his wedding and honeymoon because it was over 2 weeks - despite there being no policy saying that you couldn't take longer than 2 weeks off. In fact, in my previous team in the same organisation, it was the done thing to take more than 2 weeks off in the summer. Nevertheless, it was his wedding and honeymoon!!! He eventually got it but there were lots of pointed comments towards him. Roll forward 9 months, and the same manager that kicked up a fuss saying 2.5 weeks was way too much to take in one go, goes off on holiday for 4 weeks to visit her husband's family in Australia.

Then at Christmas, my work shuts down over the Christmas period. Another colleague asked for 2 weeks off directly prior to Christmas. "But that's almost 4 weeks you will be off, you can't do that" (again nothing saying you can't). She eventually approved it but rather aggressively told my colleague, in front of us all, if she "tried to pull that one next year, it won't be approved". This after her taking 4 weeks off herself earlier in the year. We were all off for two of those four weeks. All her contacts are internal so would also be off, so what's the issue. Plus, the colleague had been off long-term sick so hadn't been able to take her leave, which you are meant to make allowances for.

My ex-wife's sister was getting married and they chose to get married abroad at my busiest time of year. Foreseeing this would be an issue, I went to my boss to explain the situation and this happened to be 13 months before the wedding. She was actually quite sound about it. "These things happen, we'll plan around it, it is a one-off family occasion", etc. Gets to 4 months out from the wedding and we are doing planning and I remind her about the time I'm off for the wedding. It becomes a massive issue. Lots of snarky comments in my direction.

I had a different boss in a different organisation who kept knocking back requests from people to work condensed working weeks/fortnights for childcare reasons saying "it is too disruptive". This despite the fact, she herself worked a condensed week. Someone went above her head and I think she was spoken to and all of a sudden the previously rejected requests were approved.

These folk are almost comical, if it didn’t cause friction and hassle for others.


I had another manager who would only approve/deny holiday requests 2 weeks ahead of the requested dates. It took numerous people over months pointing out to her that when things like flights, hotels, etc need to be booked and paid for, it’s not really sensible to wait until a fortnight before to say yay or nay.

[overdrive]

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These folk are almost comical, if it didn’t cause friction and hassle for others.


I had another manager who would only approve/deny holiday requests 2 weeks ahead of the requested dates. It took numerous people over months pointing out to her that when things like flights, hotels, etc need to be booked and paid for, it’s not really sensible to wait until a fortnight before to say yay or nay.

I often wonder how these folk actually live life. Do they just book things last minute?

That's actually reminded me about another thing that second boss used to do (condensed working week denier). It was before I was in her team but according to others her default was to deny all holiday requests and you pretty much had to plead your case to get it approved. Again, she was spoken to.

[Scouse Hibee]

I hate open plan offices, had a job that when we moved from our own individual office spaces the whole office became toxic with people trying to point score with management by backstabbing and stealing ideas. They would listen to conversations between relevant colleagues and then lo and behold when you had your meeting with the boss with a new idea for an ongoing project, the idea had already been floated by the office rat and passed as their own. It was comical watching certain individuals like a sprinter out of the starting blocks to get to the boss’s office when he returned so they could pass on what they had heard. A couple of us created a couple of complete nonsense conversations and ideas to see if they got to the boss and they always did! Pathetic how some folk
behave when they think they can score one over on you.

[sleeping giant]

There's a new boss at my work who had told everyone that nobody could take a holiday in July 😄 Said it was because we might be getting an audit in July.
He was swiftly laughed out the meeting.

[Since90+2]

As someone who's had experience of both sides of this, I'd say a large majority of people don't understand how difficult managing people actually is. Unless you've been in a position to try and manage large teams, with all the individual issues and preferences on how to work each team member might have, it's hard to quantity the challenge at times.

I've had some good bosses in the past and some bad ones, I'm sure if you asked the people I've managed you'd get a similar response to my management skills.

Some employees are just a nightmare to try and work with, let alone manage, and will try every trick in the book to play the game.

[RyeSloan]

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As someone who's had experience of both sides of this, I'd say a large majority of people don't understand how difficult managing people actually is. Unless you've been in a position to try and manage large teams, with all the individual issues and preferences on how to work each team member might have, it's hard to quantity the challenge at times.

I've had some good bosses in the past and some bad ones, I'm sure if you asked the people I've managed you'd get a similar response to my management skills.

Some employees are just a nightmare to try and work with, let alone manage, and will try every trick in the book to play the game.

Very very true.

I’ve managed big teams, small teams, in office teams, remote teams, 3rd party teams, contractors the lot…over the piece hundreds of different individuals.

It can be an absolute nightmare but also highly rewarding.

Ive also had great bosses, terrible ones and everything in-between.

Like all things though the 80/20 rule applies quite well here. Most people be they peers, directs or bosses are pretty reasonable and at least largely try to do their best…it’s the 20% that make it onto this thread tho!

[McD]

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As someone who's had experience of both sides of this, I'd say a large majority of people don't understand how difficult managing people actually is. Unless you've been in a position to try and manage large teams, with all the individual issues and preferences on how to work each team member might have, it's hard to quantity the challenge at times.

I've had some good bosses in the past and some bad ones, I'm sure if you asked the people I've managed you'd get a similar response to my management skills.

Some employees are just a nightmare to try and work with, let alone manage, and will try every trick in the book to play the game.

Yeah you’re absolutely right, it’s not an easy gig managing people, and some colleagues are nightmares to work with.


I’ve known whole teams who would work out their annual leave together for the whole year, so that there wasn’t any overlap or hassles, and the manager was only presented with requests for time off that the whole team had already agreed to and arranged (so really easy for the manager as very few hard conversations saying no).


I’ve also had colleagues who were total pains in the arse. One who openly told everyone that she was entitled to every Christmas off because ‘I’ve got kids’, even though others in the team did as well. Or the one who would tell you to your face they’d never been shown how to do a certain aspect of the job, even when you remind them that you personally have trained them 3 times, and others have also done so on numerous occasions. And so on.

Think the moral of these stories is that regardless if they're managers, colleagues, direct reports, ********s will be ********s

[Hiber-nation]

Stop reminding me of this!! Been retired for a few years now now but had every issue mentioned above in my career, I thought I just kept getting a bad deal with staff, maybe not!!

[He's here!]

The phrase 'formerly known as Twitter'.