u/No_Bluejay9904

😂😂

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Yup

I'm here to vent and want someone to reassure me that what I'm feeling makes sense.

I'm a woman in my early twenties and I work as a front desk receptionist at a small, quiet healthcare clinic - quiet to the point that it's exhausting. I've been working for four months with a coworker in her early thirties who has autism, which she told me shortly after I started. I try to be patient and understanding, but honestly, I've become very drained by the constant crying, her dumping her stress on me, and the meltdowns that happen regularly.

The job itself isn't hard. Most shifts, I finish my work quickly and then sit there looking at my phone, browsing clothes online, or finding any little tasks to do because things are so slow. But for her, any small thing becomes a crisis. She gets stressed over basic front desk tasks and says she doesn't know how to do them, even though I've seen her do them before. That also makes training awkward, because I'm the newer one, but she can barely show me anything without getting flustered and upset.

For context, I understand neurodivergence because I'm neurodivergent too; I have ADHD. I think part of why she comes to me so much is that I can appear calm on the outside. I've dealt with a lot of stress for a long time, and honestly maybe more than some of our NT coworkers, so I don't visibly panic easily. But that doesn't mean I have infinite capacity for everyone's emotions.

What drains me is that she's constantly venting about "difficult" patients who are usually just normal elderly people asking normal questions, or someone speaking loudly because their hearing is poor. She cries almost every shift, and then someone has to stop what they're doing and comfort her. At the same time, I'm not exactly doing great myself. My dad passed away about six weeks ago, and aside from telling the manager, I haven't brought it up at work because I don't want to make it everyone's problem. Then she comes to me again, telling me she's about to fall apart because of another phone call or another patient interaction.

Almost the whole office treats her extremely carefully because she's always one impatient elderly patient or confusing insurance question away from shutting down completely and breaking down. Even our supervisor said she isn't dependable and cries too much, but also said they're not planning to let her go. She's protected by the union.

I'm still the only person who's consistently nice to her, and I'm not trying to be cold or cruel. I just feel drained. The next time she has a breakdown and comes to me for emotional support, I want to calmly tell her that I'm not the best person for that conversation and that she should talk to the manager instead of me. I'll probably tell her I'm not good in emotional situations and I can't be her support person at work.

It feels awful to admit this, but my empathy has limits. I just want one quiet workday. I don't care that you're stressed; everyone on this planet is stressed. Please stop making me carry your stress with you. Any advice?

Last Monday was the start of my 6-day leave that I had arranged as PTO and bereavement. I sent a quick message to my boss just to make sure they were following that the PTO would start immediately after the 3 days of bereavement. She replied to me and said that the obituary I sent didn't have dates on it, and this was a very strange conversation because she had already approved the leave about a month ago.

I replied to her and said, "I'm a bit confused, are you canceling the bereavement leave because the dates aren't written in the obituary?" She didn't even answer to me. And this morning, I woke up to find a termination letter in my inbox.

I was planning on leaving the company soon anyway, but does this mean she can legally get out of paying me my PTO and bereavement pay now?

I've been at my job for 4 years in a department where people come and go all the time. I've paid money for more than 14 birthdays, goodbye lunches, baby showers, and now management is hinting at the idea that we should get a card and gift for someone who technically isn't even on our team, but we deal with a lot, because his mother passed away.

Honestly, I'm fed up. I go to work to do my job, not to keep paying into every office collection that gets passed around.

I don't even mention my birthday at work, and when I leave the job one day, I definitely won't do a farewell thing or expect anyone to get me anything.

What's the best way for me to opt out of these things without looking like an asshole?

I work as an office admin and my desk is very close to the main entrance area. There's a manager who recently started coming around us more because of someone he brought onto his team, but he's not my manager and I don't report to him. I was checking work messages at my desk, and he was near the copier area, and suddenly he yelled, "Wake up!"

Of course I turned my face because someone had yelled in the office, and I found him looking directly at me. I said something like: "I'm not asleep, I'm checking messages." He replied and said: "You were dozing off." I honestly don't know if he thought that was a joke or if he was trying to embarrass me, but it bothered me. The person he brought on is kind of weird too, honestly. They were nearby and I heard them ask: "Was she asleep?" but I didn't hear what the manager said in response.

He hasn't treated me differently since then and hasn't brought it up again, but the situation keeps going around in my head. Should I say something to my actual manager, or let it pass unless he does it again? This was at the end of last week and I still feel like it was weird and it's bothering me.

TLDR: A manager who isn't my boss yelled "Wake up!" at me from the other side of the office while I was sitting at my desk working. What do I do about this? :/

After a period that felt like a lifetime, bouncing from one job to another and taking pretty much any random work I could find, I finally got accepted as an IT support technician!

I still don't have a degree, or even certs yet (I'm enrolled in school right now). And the job is mostly work-from-home too, which still feels weird to say. I've never had a salary before, so honestly all of this is completely new to me.

The company is growing, and it looks like I'm getting in early enough that there'll be a lot of room for me to move up. I'm excited, nervous, and still kind of waiting for someone to tell me they made a mistake lol.

I'll be honest, I really feel a bit underqualified and like there are a ton of things I still need to learn. I'm planning to review my A+ stuff and get the basics more solid before I start.

Is there anything I should know going in? Tips about corporate culture, what to expect in a first tech role, things you wish someone had told you early on? Any advice is welcome!

I just needed to vent because I'm absolutely fuming.

I'm a recent graduate, but I have a few years of work experience. I've been throwing applications everywhere for a while and finally got several back-to-back interviews with one company. I thought this was it, I passed 5 stages and was optimistic. But this time, it truly crushed me.

Let me tell you about the circus that happened:
First, the HR screen - the usual stuff you all know.
Then an online assessment - it was tough, honestly. Questions on Python, FastAPI, Postgres, and 3 LeetCode problems.
Next was a Home Assignment - this took me a full week. I was asked to build a full-stack internal tool to manage assets for marketing campaigns. I built it with the same design system as their internal portal, to the point where I mimicked their component library. I even added a few extra features to show I was enthusiastic. I explained all of this to the CTO in a 90-minute technical discussion.

After that, there was another stage - a 90-minute technical session with the same CTO. This time he wanted me to integrate the Stripe API to handle mock subscription events and generate reports. He seemed very impressed and told me, 'Great, prepare for the final interview'.

The final interview with the CEO - he asked me a system design question about how to build a flexible data pipeline. I was just starting to explain my approach... He cut me off after 10 minutes and coldly said, 'Have a nice day.' And that was it. He didn't ask any questions or give any feedback. And hung up.

I have no idea what I did wrong. After the call ended, I just sat there staring at the screen, completely numb. I wasted maybe over 30 hours building them a working tool, and for what? To get rejected in 10 minutes.

I feel completely drained and, honestly, defeated. The take-home project was a massive waste of time. I put in so much effort to research their stack and build something solid. Today I'm completely burned out and questioning if this field is even for me. I don't know how I can endure this unemployment grind any longer. 😭😭

Anyway, I just had to vent somewhere.
Looks like it's back to LeetCode... 😑

My manager got fired. Before he left, he told me that I'm probably going to get fired too.

Earlier this week, my manager was end for "job abandonment." He had bronchitis and was absent because he was sick, and upper management clearly used that as a reason to finally push him out.

He and I were in almost the same situation. When I was having issues with my medication, my attendance got really bad because I kept clocking in late. Our company calls them "points." If you get 4, you get written up. Two write-ups and you're out. We both had 8 at one point. He worked something out with HR and our old regional manager (who is also gone now, because of the same person above us) so we wouldn't lose our jobs as long as we reduced the points. A point drops off after 75 days. I'm not sure where he had gotten to, but I went down from 8 to 5, and it's supposed to drop to 4 the week after next. By the beginning of February, I'm supposed to be back to zero.

This afternoon, he came in to collect his things. He pulled me aside and told me I'd be next. Apparently the "backup role" they're hiring someone for, for my same position, isn't a backup at all - it's my replacement. So basically, I have until they find someone else and train them.

He also said the real reason he got fired was that he had proof that someone above us was falsifying paperwork. That same person is now in charge of our office, and all of us regular employees are quietly worried because no one knows who is safe.

I'm stuck and I don't know what the smart move is. There's a meeting on Monday to explain all the changes that are happening. Do I believe my old manager and start sending out applications now? Or do I act like I didn't hear any of this and just keep doing my job like normal? I had previously asked about extra training, and they told me to talk to the same person who fired him. Honestly, I'd rather walk into a cage with a mountain lion.

I'm scared and I have absolutely no idea what to do.

A few days ago, I went into a meeting that I thought was just a normal check-in with HR and my manager. As soon as I arrived, it quickly became clear that it wasn't that at all. It was just me, my supervisor, and the HR director. The HR person started explaining what "harassment" mean for 7-12 minutes, until I finally interrupted him and said: "I understand what those words mean. Why am I here?"

Up to now, I haven't gotten a clear answer, and of course no one told me who made the complaint. The whole conversation was almost two hours of vague, incomprehensible corporate talk. In the state I live in, a law changed a few months ago that made filing official complaints easier. If someone says they felt uncomfortable or that they experienced "harassment," they can treat that the same as harassment itself. No one at work has ever pulled me aside before, not a coworker or a manager, and told me that a particular behavior of mine was bothering someone. If that had happened, I would have respected the boundary immediately and adjusted myself. Instead, the matter went straight to senior HR.

So now it's clear that I've been accused of harassment for reasons no one wants to explain, and some kind of note has been placed on my company record. They also told me I have to change/improve my behavior, which is impossible when no one says what behavior they mean. 🤷🏽♂ The whole thing feels unreal, and I have absolutely no idea what my next step is supposed to be. Any advice would be appreciated. 🙏🏽

I'm married and happy in my marriage, and I've always tried to be an ally to people, whoever they are or however they identify. I'm currently a case worker, but before that I lived and worked abroad with people dealing with poverty, displacement, and very difficult circumstances. I've spent my adult life trying to preserve people's dignity and help them be safe. That's why this accusation has honestly left me unable to breathe.