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Having a boss that cares about you is the best. Encouraging your personal and professional development, making you feel like a valuable member of the team, even saying a simple "thank you" really contributes to job satisfaction.

Sometimes, however, it feels like this boss doesn't even exist. Like they're just a fictional character, created by some business management faculty to trick students into joining the workforce.

Take this viral thread for example.

It started with a tweet by comedian Kevin McCaffrey. In it, McCaffrey recalled the time when he told his manager that his grandma had died before a double shift he was scheduled for. Their response? "Can you just work one shift?"

As the tweet blew up, people started replying with baffling phrases they heard from bosses themselves. Below are some of the most delirious ones.

Bored Panda got in touch with McCaffrey to learn more about the story behind his famous tweet. "I was a server in Anderson, Indiana for 4 months in 2003," he said. "Was I happy with it? No, haha, but I don't blame OG. It was a good server job in the area, the employees were very cool overall."

McCaffrey doesn't really remember what the real reason was that day, but he has a theory. "The TV department at Ball State's activity fair (called SuperParty) where people sign up for what shows they want to work on for the year. I was the host and EP of a late night talk show, and they wouldn't let me take the day off. I wasn't gonna miss it, so fake grandma had to have a bad day."

#3

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

MorganCerese Report

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Bella Jones
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmmm .... she was happy to ignore the roaches up until the employer upset her. Not cool. Not cool at all.

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The main thing McCaffrey took away from all the replies his tweet got was that "management, in every job, is delusional."

"They demand far more than they're willing to give almost everywhere, and expect people who are clearly working survival jobs to bail on everything in their lives to deliver unlimited salad and breadsticks for 2.13 an hour and an average of about 10% tip," he said. "I also learned that there are plenty of people very mad that I lied in 2003 at the Anderson Indiana Olive Garden and missed that shift."

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#5

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Family." Always. Whoever thinks otherwise is an idiot.

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troufaki13
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree, but let's not forget that there are families that are abusive, so "always" doesn't always apply

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troufaki13
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel sorry for your manager because evidently s/he doesn't know what family is :(

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Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn’t true. They probably care about their own family deeply. It is our families that he doesn’t care for. These people are always the same. Them above anyone else’s. Rules for thee, not for me. That kind of asshat.

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Gary French
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If a manager is asking that question then they should not be charge of themselves let alone a business or other people.

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Katinka Min
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How is that even a question? You will have lots of jobs in your life but only one family.

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Gage Franke
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who else imagines he had a shocked pikachu face when she answered family?

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Maggie Miller
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He was legitimately surprised when I said family. He then wordlessly spun around and stomped off.

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BluEyedSeoulite
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a manager once doubt that my mother had cancer and major surgery that removed a lot of her intestines, colon, bladder, and vagina. She had a 20% chance of living. Same manager took 2 weeks off because his dad had routine shoulder surgery.

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Maggie Miller
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It wasn't. He was genuinely shocked I answered incorrectly with "family". He stormed off.

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Annette Easton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can relate. My first "real" job had a somewhat similar situation. I was 17, my mother called the office (pre-cell phone days) from her office and told me she was sick and needed me to drive her home. My extremely work-aholic mother who was in at her office 7 days a week. If she said she needed to go home, it was serious. I told my boss I needed to leave. She told me I needed to decide what was more important, my work or my family. Easiest decision ever. Handed in my resignation the next day.

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Leo Domitrix
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow. That boss is how my dad was as a boss. Hence his eulogy by one guy as "the meanest sumbitch foreman on the East Coast" (of the US). As his kid, I attest, yes, he was.

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Gogubaci
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

my answer to this question is a direct punch in the face

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WholesomeArmyweeb
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s awful. Family comes before anything in my opinion- be it work or commitment. Bc your family is what you commit to first. They are more precious than anything, whether it’s the family you grew up in, or it’s the one you are growing and developing now

kjorn avatar
kjorn
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

can we publically shame that bosse? they are so many like that in America.

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pusheen buttercup
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Family. EVERY time. Massive accidents, take whatever time you need.

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Ron Santos
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe s/he was pointing out that family is more important... but probably wasn’t.

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Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How delusional and dishonest considering the most likely reason the boss works is for his own ugly family.

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CatWoman312
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have laughed in his face and said, are you serious?

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Maggie Miller
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a confused look, like wrinkled forehead, tilted head wrinkled nose and said "family" like - what other choice is there? He was mad af I wasn't shamed into saying work.

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Salma Hernández
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Before virus, I worked in a gym. Sometimes I still remember my boss and I think she put work over family.

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A study by CareerBuilder.com shows that a whopping 58 percent of managers said they didn’t receive any management training. Let that sink it. Most managers in the workforce were promoted because they were good at what they did, not because they made the people around them better. This statistic might explain their lack of competence. Our leaders aren't trained to lead.

Here's another interesting fact for you. Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave revealed that 89 percent of bosses believe employees quit because they want more money. I bet any boss would love this statistic to be true (because it basically pardons them from wrong-doing) but it is simply not true. Only 12 percent of employees actually leave an organization for more money.

#8

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Max
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, 99% of people in food service are there just because they get paid. It's not really a 'calling' or 'career'.

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#10

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Marcellus the Third
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm a bit perplexed that work would even have the right to know your Dr, let alone ring them on a whim.

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A Harvard Business Review survey revealed that only 49% of full-time workers responded that they had "a great deal of trust" in those working above and alongside them. 

That becomes a bigger problem when you consider their other research which has found that positive teams that trust each other are more productive, creative, and resilient and improve the organization’s overall effectiveness.

#13

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Z Kalnina
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good riddance! Some employers don't want you to be educated because you will quit then anyway. Best be out of that environment.

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Recognition is the number one thing employees say their manager could give them to elevate their job satisfaction to new heights. Sadly, as you can see from the tweets, not every boss gets it. Global studies prove that when it comes to inspiring people to be their best at work, nothing else comes close—not even higher pay, promotion, autonomy, or training.

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#15

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

WizardDaze Report

Gallup discovered that one of the most important decisions companies make is simply whom they name manager. However, its analytics suggest they usually get it wrong. In fact, Gallup found that companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.

Gallup estimates that managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business units, and this variation is in turn responsible for severely low worldwide employee engagement. Gallup reported in two large-scale studies in 2012 that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, and a staggeringly low 13% worldwide are engaged.

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If only they listened more.

#21

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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James016
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don’t know how it works in the USA but that must be a health and safety violation.

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#26

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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N G
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not 3 days to get over it. It's 3 days to sort the paperwork. They're not offering "grief leave".

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#27

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KoalaLa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm all for inclusivity, but you can't expect the whole restaurant system changes because of you being autistic?

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#28

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would you take paid time off over medical leave? No boss is going: " Wow, what an outstanding employee!!! Taking PTO instead of the medical leave he could have gotten. Amazing, remind me to promote him and give him a raise when he comes in." Instead they'll be like: " Jeez, what a dumb@ss. Remind me to fire him when he returns."

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#29

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Ian Koch
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

they got injured while working... then she was asked to come back to work the same day. by her boss. I would say this to the boss, before quitting: Do you are have stupid.

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#35

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Derpy Dino
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wow, kidney stones suck(from what ive heard) and if your pissing rocks, you need to stay home.

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#36

Employees-Complain-Worst-Bosses-Sayings

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Note: this post originally had 37 images. It’s been shortened to the top 36 images based on user votes.