Favouritism

The place where I current work has an Employee of the Month scheme. Management (4 members) as are supposed to vote on the best worker. But this doesn’t happen…
Usually only the main boss chooses and it’s invariably the boss’s favourite who wins rather than the most productive employee. And the boss’s favourite is almost [...]

A notable skive

In October 2006, Henry Bingham a man from Wyoming who wanted time off told his workmates that his two year-old-daughter had died. At first, his plan went swimmingly – he was allowed compassionate leave, his sympathetic colleagues clubbed together to give him more than $1300 and his labor union chipped in with some cash too.
The [...]

I blame society

It isn’t so much the length of my commute that troubles me. At an average of 45 minutes to an hour I suppose it’s not too bad by modern standards. No, I’m afraid to say that it’s the people.
Until quite recently it wasn’t too bad. You see I catch the number 38 bus from Clapton [...]

Unsuitable attire

Because I’d been away working Africa, I hadn’t had any need for a suit for a very long time. I’d still kept my old one, however, hanging up in a closet back in England… just in case.
I had cause to use it almost as soon as I’d returned when I was lucky enough to be [...]

All Hung Up

Not long after I took up a job in New York I was asked to wine and dine some potential clients and to generally impress them with a night out in the Big Apple. The wining and dining went fine. I was even feeling pretty pleased with myself – and hoping that the clients [...]

Abigail’s (naked) Party

In 1998 Abigail Saxon, a BBC religious programmes producer’s antics at a Christmas Party weren’t just the talk of her office – they earned her a mention in no less an organ thatn The Daily Telegraph. Saxon, who worked on Radio 4’s Sunday Programme was mentioned by name in the august journal, which said [...]

Microsoft act hard

In October 2003 Microsoft fired a long-term temp after he posted a photograph on his blog of G5 computers from rival company Apple Macintosh being delivered to Microsoft’s Redmond company campus.
Hanscom, who worked at the MSCopy print shop, noticed a truckload of G5 Macs being delivered to the campus, and took a picture of them [...]

An All Time Low

On 10 am Thursday September 5, 2002, a New York office worker, Tripp Murray, sent a chatty email to Mary Callahan, a woman he’d recently taken on a date, asking if she intended to go to a Bon Jovi concert that night and if not suggesting himself as company.
He was surprised to receive a reply [...]

A Grade A Date

In 2002 Jacqueline Kim made the mistake of emailing her unusually materialistic assessment of her date (good kisser, nice car, needs to get a haircut and shower her with presents if he wants to keep her) to a few friends outside her office – some of whom promptly forwarded it on for the delight and [...]

Impossible is nothing

Getting your CV noticed is half the battle in today’s competitive job market. And so, to a certain extent, Yale student Aleksey Vayner’s decision to include a video presentation with his eleven page application to a New York bank could be seen as inspired. Unfortunately, however, the contents of the video proved him to have [...]