OT - Oh My, Office Gossip

I am so shocked I can't get my jaw off the floor!

The woman who works for the manager of the division as his administrative
assistant - I'll call her Lisa, because, well, that's her name - was never
my favorite co-worker. She is a big gossip, walking around the office all
day, talking to everyone about who did what, and never doing her job (and
always taking off so that I, and the other admins were always having to do
her job for her - and she managed to be "sick" every time she had a big
project come up). She is one of those people who always have to have the
latest fashion, brags about owning over 300 pairs of shoes, buys only
"Coach(? something that starts with a C or G or something)" handbags (they
cost $500), has her children in private school, etc., etc. She looks down
at anyone who isn't in her "class" - gawd knows what she thinks about my
perfectly nice clothes bought at a second-hand shop ;. I always thought
her husband must make a really hefty salary - they just bought a new house,
a new car, she's *always* shopping (I ought to know, when it's my turn to
get the mail I'm always picking up packages and catalogues for her from
stores I won't even walk into for fear of buying a $1,000 key chain).

Last Friday, our office manager (not the division manager) called me into
her office and asked if I had said something nasty about her, because Lisa
told her that I'd told Lisa that I was p*ssed off about her taking a long
lunch (two days before when Lisa was out sick yet again, and the other admin
was out and I was having to take the reception desk for lunch while the
office manager went to lunch with the receptionist (everybody got that?
;)). I told her, truthfully, that I hadn't even talked to Lisa since she
was back in the office. I was VERY p*ssed off about her telling a
bald-faced lie about me to try to get me into trouble (I found out why she
did it today - more later). I told my husband, this job may just be
something to pass the time, for her, but since DH got laid off, this is our
only livelihood!!! I couldn't believe anyone would even repeat such a gripe
even if it HAD been made (which it wasn't) - the only reason to do so is to
stir up trouble.

Well stirring up trouble, as a smoke screen, was exactly what she was trying
to do. We found out today that over the weekend she had been fired. She
was using her boss's corporate credit card to pay for a full year's tuition
for both her girls in a private school!!!! As a lesser offence (but more
aggravating to me and the other admins), she was taking off work and not
recording her PTO (I wondered where she got 60 - 70 days of PTO each year,
you can only buy 2 weeks extra PTO in addition to your normal 2 weeks - with
all the health problems I had last year I'm at NEGATIVE 24 hours of PTO and
that was WITH skipping a week's pay and getting only 2/3 pay for another 2
weeks).

Now, aggravating as this woman is, I never thought she was stupid. But, I
mean, how stupid can you get - using your boss's corporate credit card!
Even though she did the expense statements for her boss, there are still
many other ways it could come to light (obviously, since it has). Where do
people get the b*lls to do stuff like that???!

Anyway, I was told all this in confidence to I can't tell anyone at work -
you know how it is when you have something really shocking going on but
can't talk about it? So I'm burdening you guys with office gossip! But
what do you think about something like this???!

--
Hugs,

CatNipped

Visit all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I am so shocked I can't get my jaw off the floor!

The woman who works for the manager of the division as his administrative
assistant - I'll call her Lisa, because, well, that's her name - was never
my favorite co-worker. She is a big gossip, walking around the office all
day, talking to everyone about who did what, and never doing her job (and
always taking off so that I, and the other admins were always having to do
her job for her - and she managed to be "sick" every time she had a big
project come up). She is one of those people who always have to have the
latest fashion, brags about owning over 300 pairs of shoes, buys only
"Coach(? something that starts with a C or G or something)" handbags (they
cost $500), has her children in private school, etc., etc. She looks down
at anyone who isn't in her "class" - gawd knows what she thinks about my
perfectly nice clothes bought at a second-hand shop ;. I always thought
her husband must make a really hefty salary - they just bought a new
house, a new car, she's *always* shopping (I ought to know, when it's my
turn to get the mail I'm always picking up packages and catalogues for her
from stores I won't even walk into for fear of buying a $1,000 key chain).

Last Friday, our office manager (not the division manager) called me into
her office and asked if I had said something nasty about her, because Lisa
told her that I'd told Lisa that I was p*ssed off about her taking a long
lunch (two days before when Lisa was out sick yet again, and the other
admin was out and I was having to take the reception desk for lunch while
the office manager went to lunch with the receptionist (everybody got
that? ;)). I told her, truthfully, that I hadn't even talked to Lisa
since she was back in the office. I was VERY p*ssed off about her telling
a bald-faced lie about me to try to get me into trouble (I found out why
she did it today - more later). I told my husband, this job may just be
something to pass the time, for her, but since DH got laid off, this is
our only livelihood!!! I couldn't believe anyone would even repeat such a
gripe even if it HAD been made (which it wasn't) - the only reason to do
so is to stir up trouble.

Well stirring up trouble, as a smoke screen, was exactly what she was
trying to do. We found out today that over the weekend she had been
fired. She was using her boss's corporate credit card to pay for a full
year's tuition for both her girls in a private school!!!! As a lesser
offence (but more aggravating to me and the other admins), she was taking
off work and not recording her PTO (I wondered where she got 60 - 70 days
of PTO each year, you can only buy 2 weeks extra PTO in addition to your
normal 2 weeks - with all the health problems I had last year I'm at
NEGATIVE 24 hours of PTO and that was WITH skipping a week's pay and
getting only 2/3 pay for another 2 weeks).

Now, aggravating as this woman is, I never thought she was stupid. But, I
mean, how stupid can you get - using your boss's corporate credit card!
Even though she did the expense statements for her boss, there are still
many other ways it could come to light (obviously, since it has). Where
do people get the b*lls to do stuff like that???!

Anyway, I was told all this in confidence to I can't tell anyone at work -
you know how it is when you have something really shocking going on but
can't talk about it? So I'm burdening you guys with office gossip! But
what do you think about something like this???!



About ten years ago, I worked at a smallish business run by a woman who was
the craziest person I've ever encountered. It was a very strange situation.
It was so extreme that there was virtually no office politics as I'd come to
understand them-- it was simply her against us, and vice versa, straight up.
We were all in the foxhole together, fighting for our lives against this
lunatic. Paying us wasn't her problem-- she was actually generous, which
was how she retained a lot of people. But she made us all so crazy in so
many other ways that there was always a turnover. When she called me into
her office and "reported" to me that one of my colleagues had said something
about me-- and I knew the tale she was carrying simply was not true-- I
finally realized that this woman just liked to have her private little zoo
of people to mess with, and was willing to pay them for that. When I
realized she was actually lying to us to amuse herslf, I waited a couple of
months, and a few more paychecks, and gave my notice.

--
Theresa and Dante
drtmuirATearthlink.net

Stinky Forever: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

--
Theresa and Dante
drtmuirATearthlink.net

Stinky Forever: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

CatNipped wrote:

Anyway, I was told all this in confidence to I can't tell anyone at work -
you know how it is when you have something really shocking going on but
can't talk about it? So I'm burdening you guys with office gossip! But
what do you think about something like this???!

We've had several similar instances here (which made the nightly news,
in Phoenix, Arizona). These were government employees (State or Local)
and one or two who worked for non-profits. Most of the offenses
involved using their employer's credit cards for personal purchases, but
one was a matter of two women appropriating holiday gift cards donated
to charity by local merchants. (Apparently the two decided "charity
begins at home", and the intended recipients never saw them.)

On Jan 12, 3:34*pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
I am so shocked I can't get my jaw off the floor!

The woman who works for the manager of the division as his administrative
assistant - I'll call her Lisa, because, well, that's her name - was never
my favorite co-worker. *She is a big gossip, walking around the office all
day, talking to everyone about who did what, and never doing her job (and
always taking off so that I, and the other admins were always having to do
her job for her - and she managed to be "sick" every time she had a big
project come up). *She is one of those people who always have to have the
latest fashion, brags about owning over 300 pairs of shoes, buys only
"Coach(? something that starts with a C or G or something)" handbags (they
cost $500), has her children in private school, etc., etc. *She looks down
at anyone who isn't in her "class" - gawd knows what she thinks about my
perfectly nice clothes bought at a second-hand shop ;. *I always thought
her husband must make a really hefty salary - they just bought a new house,
a new car, she's *always* shopping (I ought to know, when it's my turn to
get the mail I'm always picking up packages and catalogues for her from
stores I won't even walk into for fear of buying a $1,000 key chain).

Last Friday, our office manager (not the division manager) called me into
her office and asked if I had said something nasty about her, because Lisa
told her that I'd told Lisa that I was p*ssed off about her taking a long
lunch (two days before when Lisa was out sick yet again, and the other admin
was out and I was having to take the reception desk for lunch while the
office manager went to lunch with the receptionist (everybody got that?
;)). *I told her, truthfully, that I hadn't even talked to Lisa since she
was back in the office. *I was VERY p*ssed off about her telling a
bald-faced lie about me to try to get me into trouble (I found out why she
did it today - more later). *I told my husband, this job may just be
something to pass the time, for her, but since DH got laid off, this is our
only livelihood!!! *I couldn't believe anyone would even repeat such a gripe
even if it HAD been made (which it wasn't) - the only reason to do so is to
stir up trouble.

Well stirring up trouble, as a smoke screen, was exactly what she was trying
to do. *We found out today that over the weekend she had been fired. *She
was using her boss's corporate credit card to pay for a full year's tuition
for both her girls in a private school!!!! *As a lesser offence (but more
aggravating to me and the other admins), she was taking off work and not
recording her PTO (I wondered where she got 60 - 70 days of PTO each year,
you can only buy 2 weeks extra PTO in addition to your normal 2 weeks - with
all the health problems I had last year I'm at NEGATIVE 24 hours of PTO and
that was WITH skipping a week's pay and getting only 2/3 pay for another 2
weeks).

Now, aggravating as this woman is, I never thought she was stupid. *But, I
mean, how stupid can you get - using your boss's corporate credit card!
Even though she did the expense statements for her boss, there are still
many other ways it could come to light (obviously, since it has). *Where do
people get the b*lls to do stuff like that???!

Anyway, I was told all this in confidence to I can't tell anyone at work -
you know how it is when you have something really shocking going on but
can't talk about it? *So I'm burdening you guys with office gossip! *But
what do you think about something like this???!

--
Hugs,

CatNipped

Visit all my masters at: *http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

Man, that is nervy. It just kind of proves what I've only learned in
later years. The
people that tend to show off their wealth usually aren't wealthy at
all, they're just
in debt big-time. I might have been somewhat impressed by showy people
when I
was younger, but now I just think how stupid you are for spending $500
on a handbag.
And I feel quite superior :-)
Some kind of weird phenomenon hits when you're in your mid-fifties.
You like money
in the bank better than cool stuff. Ack! I can't believe I said that.
I have turned into
my parents.
I'm rather jelous of the office soap opera you have going on there. I
used to wallow
around in office gossip back in the day.
Now I don't have anything remotely interesting to tell. Let's see. I
let Frank outside
today because he was begging hard, and what I *didn't* see was a black
and white
stray cat in the flower bed. So he took off ninety miles an hour to
kick its butt -- Frank
can run like a rabbit -- but he didn't catch it. First stray I've seen
in a couple of years.
I've left the garage door cracked and food out for it. Highlight of
the day.
See, look how much more intersting YOUR day was?

Sherry

Sherry

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Now, aggravating as this woman is, I never thought she was stupid. But, I
mean, how stupid can you get - using your boss's corporate credit card!
--
Hugs,

CatNipped


Never mind the boss' credit card. I worked with a couple of people who were
issued corporate cards for business travel. They were trainers so they did
travel and were entitled to have corporate credit cards. But they were
fired for using their corporate cards for non-business stuff. Like buying
furniture and expensive clothes. It's just stupid. Even if they paid the
bill themselves (which they didn't, they were submitting false expense
reports) that is not what a corporate card is issued for.

It's like the time I worked for a vending machine company doing their route
accounting. There was a series of robberies that occurred over several
weeks. Always right after the vending machines had been emptied of coins
and the trucks were full of bags of cash. Funny how it was always the same
driver. After the second "robbery" the company got suspicious so they
switched his route with that of another driver. There was a lull for about
a week, then suddenly this same driver was robbed again on his totally
different route. Talk about stupid. They didn't just fire him, they
brought him up on felony charges. Maybe he had friends he blabbed to about
how much money he was toting around... who knows. But he was definitely
complicit.

Jill

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Jan 12, 3:34 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
I am so shocked I can't get my jaw off the floor!

The woman who works for the manager of the division as his administrative
assistant - I'll call her Lisa, because, well, that's her name - was never
my favorite co-worker. She is a big gossip, walking around the office all
day, talking to everyone about who did what, and never doing her job (and
always taking off so that I, and the other admins were always having to do
her job for her - and she managed to be "sick" every time she had a big
project come up). She is one of those people who always have to have the
latest fashion, brags about owning over 300 pairs of shoes, buys only
"Coach(? something that starts with a C or G or something)" handbags (they
cost $500), has her children in private school, etc., etc. She looks down
at anyone who isn't in her "class" - gawd knows what she thinks about my
perfectly nice clothes bought at a second-hand shop ;. I always thought
her husband must make a really hefty salary - they just bought a new
house,
a new car, she's *always* shopping (I ought to know, when it's my turn to
get the mail I'm always picking up packages and catalogues for her from
stores I won't even walk into for fear of buying a $1,000 key chain).

Last Friday, our office manager (not the division manager) called me into
her office and asked if I had said something nasty about her, because Lisa
told her that I'd told Lisa that I was p*ssed off about her taking a long
lunch (two days before when Lisa was out sick yet again, and the other
admin
was out and I was having to take the reception desk for lunch while the
office manager went to lunch with the receptionist (everybody got that?
;)). I told her, truthfully, that I hadn't even talked to Lisa since she
was back in the office. I was VERY p*ssed off about her telling a
bald-faced lie about me to try to get me into trouble (I found out why she
did it today - more later). I told my husband, this job may just be
something to pass the time, for her, but since DH got laid off, this is
our
only livelihood!!! I couldn't believe anyone would even repeat such a
gripe
even if it HAD been made (which it wasn't) - the only reason to do so is
to
stir up trouble.

Well stirring up trouble, as a smoke screen, was exactly what she was
trying
to do. We found out today that over the weekend she had been fired. She
was using her boss's corporate credit card to pay for a full year's
tuition
for both her girls in a private school!!!! As a lesser offence (but more
aggravating to me and the other admins), she was taking off work and not
recording her PTO (I wondered where she got 60 - 70 days of PTO each year,
you can only buy 2 weeks extra PTO in addition to your normal 2 weeks -
with
all the health problems I had last year I'm at NEGATIVE 24 hours of PTO
and
that was WITH skipping a week's pay and getting only 2/3 pay for another 2
weeks).

Now, aggravating as this woman is, I never thought she was stupid. But, I
mean, how stupid can you get - using your boss's corporate credit card!
Even though she did the expense statements for her boss, there are still
many other ways it could come to light (obviously, since it has). Where do
people get the b*lls to do stuff like that???!

Anyway, I was told all this in confidence to I can't tell anyone at work -
you know how it is when you have something really shocking going on but
can't talk about it? So I'm burdening you guys with office gossip! But
what do you think about something like this???!

--
Hugs,

CatNipped

Visit all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

Man, that is nervy. It just kind of proves what I've only learned in
later years. The
people that tend to show off their wealth usually aren't wealthy at
all, they're just
in debt big-time. I might have been somewhat impressed by showy people
when I
was younger, but now I just think how stupid you are for spending $500
on a handbag.
And I feel quite superior :-)
Some kind of weird phenomenon hits when you're in your mid-fifties.
You like money
in the bank better than cool stuff. Ack! I can't believe I said that.
I have turned into
my parents.
I'm rather jelous of the office soap opera you have going on there. I
used to wallow
around in office gossip back in the day.
Now I don't have anything remotely interesting to tell. Let's see. I
let Frank outside
today because he was begging hard, and what I *didn't* see was a black
and white
stray cat in the flower bed. So he took off ninety miles an hour to
kick its butt -- Frank
can run like a rabbit -- but he didn't catch it. First stray I've seen
in a couple of years.
I've left the garage door cracked and food out for it. Highlight of
the day.
See, look how much more intersting YOUR day was?

Sherry

==================

Nope, I like your gossip *MUCH* better than mine. I don't ever gossip, not
because I am so noble and good, but just because I really don't care about
people and what they do (unless it directly involves me and my livelihood as
this did).

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Jan 12, 2:34*pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
I am so shocked I can't get my jaw off the floor!

snipped

Well stirring up trouble, as a smoke screen, was exactly what she was trying
to do. *We found out today that over the weekend she had been fired. *She
was using her boss's corporate credit card to pay for a full year's tuition
for both her girls in a private school!!!! *As a lesser offence (but more
aggravating to me and the other admins), she was taking off work and not
recording her PTO (I wondered where she got 60 - 70 days of PTO each year,
you can only buy 2 weeks extra PTO in addition to your normal 2 weeks - with
all the health problems I had last year I'm at NEGATIVE 24 hours of PTO and
that was WITH skipping a week's pay and getting only 2/3 pay for another 2
weeks).

Now, aggravating as this woman is, I never thought she was stupid. *But, I
mean, how stupid can you get - using your boss's corporate credit card!

Not stupid, complacent. She got away with it, for how long? She got
sloppy. I have an acquaintance who used her position as accountant to
use the company credit card to buy her groceries, gasoline, airline
tickets to fly wherever, make her insurance payments, etc... Because
she did the books, she figured she could cover/hide it.

She's sweating buckets now because the company went bankrupt *but* the
investing partners are looking into the money trail. See, they were
smarter than she gave them (a group of lawyers) for being. They knew
that 'X' amount of dollars was coming in, and going "somewhere", they
just haven't found out where yet.

She thinks that because she "lost" the credit card statements, that
they will never find out (um, guess again). Or should I say she
thought that. She knows that charges are coming, and she's trying to
get "out of Dodge" as it were.

She's flat broke though, that's what happens when you try to live the
high life, without anything to "fall back on" when the roof fell in.

Even though she did the expense statements for her boss, there are still
many other ways it could come to light (obviously, since it has). *Where do
people get the b*lls to do stuff like that???!

They get away with it a few times (because they were desperate, and
promised "whatever" that they'd never do it again...), then begin to
think they are "smarter" than everyone else, and since they got away
with it before, and no one 'caught on'....

Kreisleriana wrote:

About ten years ago, I worked at a smallish business run by a woman who was
the craziest person I've ever encountered. It was a very strange situation.
It was so extreme that there was virtually no office politics as I'd come to
understand them-- it was simply her against us, and vice versa, straight up.
We were all in the foxhole together, fighting for our lives against this
lunatic. Paying us wasn't her problem-- she was actually generous, which
was how she retained a lot of people. But she made us all so crazy in so
many other ways that there was always a turnover. When she called me into
her office and "reported" to me that one of my colleagues had said something
about me-- and I knew the tale she was carrying simply was not true-- I
finally realized that this woman just liked to have her private little zoo
of people to mess with, and was willing to pay them for that. When I
realized she was actually lying to us to amuse herslf, I waited a couple of
months, and a few more paychecks, and gave my notice.

OK, now I'm dying to know what had been said about you.

I once worked in an office, about 30 years ago, that was full of petty,
bitchy "politics". (I hesitate to use that term because this was just
beyond petty and very low-level.) This was when I was doing clerical
work at an insurance company. I was a bit of a misfit in terms of my
general outlook on life, as well as how I dressed. I obeyed the company's
explicit dress code rules, but I didn't follow office conventions, which
was to wear dresses or nice slacks and tons of makeup. I dressed as
casually as company rules allowed, did the absolute minimum in hairstyling
(ie, washing and brushing), and wore no makeup. This apparently bothered
my officemates intensely.

Another crime was the fact that I carried my belongings in a knapsack
rather than a purse. The girls were absolutely horrified by this. OK, it
was a low-paying, incredibly boring job, and people needed something to
distract them - but why did it have to be picking on me??

Anyway, one day my supervisor called me aside and told me that there had
been numerous complaints that I "smelled bad". The supervisor told me
that if I didn't "clean up", she was going to move my desk out away from
the rest of the section's desks, in an obvious way that would be basically
like being put in a stock for public humiliation. So I said that if she
did that, I'd quit on the spot.

When I got home that day, I asked all my friends, including my boyfriend
at the time, if this was true about me. I *begged* them to be honest and
not try to spare my feelings. If I really did have a problem with body
odor, now was the time to tell me! Well, they all either laughed or got
angry (on my behalf). The answer was a resounding, unanimous "NO!" It was
just harassment, that's all. They didn't like how I looked, was what it
came down to. Thank god I finally came to my senses and got another job.
Not only did people behave more maturely at the new job, but it paid a
lot more, too!

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

Sherry wrote:

You like money
in the bank better than cool stuff. Ack! I can't believe I said that.
I have turned into my parents.

LOL, I've always been like that. Even in my teens. Maybe this means that
I will soon abandon my sensible, thrifty habits and start buying cool
stuff.

I'm rather jelous of the office soap opera you have going on there. I
used to wallow
around in office gossip back in the day.
Now I don't have anything remotely interesting to tell. Let's see. I
let Frank outside
today because he was begging hard, and what I *didn't* see was a black
and white
stray cat in the flower bed. So he took off ninety miles an hour to
kick its butt -- Frank
can run like a rabbit -- but he didn't catch it. First stray I've seen
in a couple of years.
I've left the garage door cracked and food out for it. Highlight of
the day.
See, look how much more intersting YOUR day was?

Well, I find cat stories infinitely more interesting to listen to, but
if you're seriously bored, maybe there's some volunteer work you could
do, or a class you could take, something like that?

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

"Smokie Darling (Annie)" wrote:

I have an acquaintance who used her position as accountant to
use the company credit card to buy her groceries, gasoline, airline
tickets to fly wherever, make her insurance payments, etc... Because
she did the books, she figured she could cover/hide it.

She's sweating buckets now because the company went bankrupt *but* the
investing partners are looking into the money trail. See, they were
smarter than she gave them (a group of lawyers) for being. They knew
that 'X' amount of dollars was coming in, and going "somewhere", they
just haven't found out where yet.

She thinks that because she "lost" the credit card statements, that
they will never find out (um, guess again). Or should I say she
thought that. She knows that charges are coming, and she's trying to
get "out of Dodge" as it were.

Wow. That woman's going to jail for sure!

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)