Venting.

[Jev Moldara]

If I remember, back in the day, you had to actually do or say something bad to get in trouble. Now? All the customer has to do is make a scene and you get written up, regardless of what you actually said or did. Like your experience above, JES.

Funny, I had the opposite experience. Then again, this particular client is known for being a complete jackhole of a person. This is the guy who thinks it's perfectly acceptable to randomly come by our office at 5:30 in the evening and want to talk about things for three or four hours. Apparently personal lives mean nothing to him.

Once he was irritating me so much that I posted a rant online:

**********************************************************

"We've had a client in the office for a couple of weeks, something that is not uncommon when a project is nearing completion. However, this particular client is dancing a goddamned jig on my last nerve.

Since business politics and workplace professionalism prevent me from doing so in person, to this client, I say this:

1. Don't get upset when an urgent matter pops up that demands my immediate attention and requires that I set your work aside for a bit. I do not work for you or your company.

2. Don't insult my work simply because it isn't exactly how you would envision it. I am not a mind reader. I am simply working with the information you have given me. The quality of my work is directly proportional to the quality of the information I have to do my work. In other words, if you give me crap, you get crap in return.

3. I have read the standards that your company follows for product creation. You don't follow that standard, but I do, and yelling at me is not going to make me break your own company standards. Technically speaking, I am saving your job by doing my job correctly. I suggest you read those standards, as it's pretty pathetic when someone from another company knows how your company works and you don't.

4. Checking up on me every two minutes to see my progress only serves to hinder said progress.

5. When you ask me how long something is going to take and I tell you that I don't know, it's not because I'm avoiding the question, it's because I REALLY DO NOT FREAKING KNOW.

6. When I ask you a simple question like "What is the manufacturer and part number for this 24VDC power supply," I am looking for a brand name and a part number. What I don't need is a thirty minute diatribe starting with wiring philosophy and ending with civil unrest in The Sudan (I'm not even kidding about this), with no actual answer in the entire rant.

7. When I ask the same question again because you didn't answer it the first time, don't get mad at me. I'm just doing my job. You've already wasted thirty minutes of my time with this question, so if anyone should be mad, it's me.

8. Do not get angry with me because I question you. I am not some brown-nosing, kowtowing, naive draftsperson fresh out of school that will scrape and beg for your approval. If I have a legitimate concern about how a drawing is laid out or if I have a suggestion to improve something, I will bring it up. The proper response is to explain to me why you want it a certain way. The proper response is NOT to say "because I said so" and then bitch to my boss about how I am refusing to so something because I don't personally like it.

9. You're an engineer. You have a Master's degree and 30+ years of experience. I am a CAD designer. I have an Associate's degree and 12 years of experience. I get it. Your experience is greater than mine and your responsibilities are more complex. However, this does not give you the right to say that my job is "so easy a monkey could do it" (this one had me so heated that I got up and walked outside just to keep myself from knocking him out cold). Drawing electrical schematics is a time-consuming process as is, and it becomes triply-so when you keep changing your mind about things.

10. My workday begins around 7am and ends at 4pm. Sometimes I come in as much as 2 hours early just to take care of things. Most days I only take enough of a lunch to go get something, come back, and eat at my desk while working. Sometimes I'll stay as late as 5pm or even 6pm if I'm in the middle of something. Dropping a large amount of drawing changes on my desk (a full day's worth of work) at the end of the day while saying you meant to give it to me this morning but got caught up in various things and that you still want it by first thing in the next morning? Yeah, that ain't happening. A lack of proper planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

By the way, Mister Client, you are a major-league douchebag for going to my boss behind closed doors and complaining about my performance. My boss's door may have been closed, but my cubicle is right there, and your voice permeates quite well. Telling my boss that I should be given the chance to "seek employment elsewhere" because my "work performance is poor" is a first-class dick move especially since you have been the problem. I have bent over backwards to give you what you want and I have endured insults, micromanagement, and crap talk from you in the process. My boss knows this, thankfully, and has blown you off in that regard.

On a final note: Go fornicate yourself with a cactus and then sit in pureed habaneros, you abominable c**t."

[ThreadJack]

I used to work at Spencer's as a manager and the policy was no refunds.  Period.  Not for any reason.  Exchange or store credit only.  So, this lady comes in with a baseball cap her son bought and starts yelling at me because the cap has the word "damn" on it.  Now, there is a GIANT sign in the window that warns of explicit material as well as the sale of "adult" items in the store.  I tell the lady the whole thing about no refunds and store credit and blah blah blah. 

She gets in my face and points a finger at me, saying that "how dare you sell MY son merchandise with a DIRTY WORD on it!!!!" because "he's 12!!!"

I asked the obvious.  Was she with him when he bought it or did he come in here and buy it on his own?  Gee, wonder what her answer was.  So, she accuses me of "being a smarty pants" and threatens to call my boss for "not giving her money back."  I repeat the store policy (which is what I was told to do NO MATTER WHAT) and she flies into a Biblical rage, in which I am now called Satan, a racist, and a few other hilarious attempts at insults.

She storms out in a rage with her stupid cap and I call the big boss to tell her what happened, 100% certain that she will stand by me because I hardcore followed policy and was super polite about it.

HA.  I got written up for not giving her money back. 

So, retail teaches people that if you stand there and throw a big enough tantrum, not only will you get your way (despite the store rules), but you will also put that "snide little employee" in their place for not bowing to your all-mighty will.   Fabulous. 

Retail. Where everyone's an idiot, and the rules don't matter.

[wargame_insomniac]

I lost my job today. God forbid you should do anything with certain customers, besides worship the friggin ground they friggin walk on! People are entirely too sensitive anymore.

That sucks. Good luck in finding new one.

[Darth Logos]

Jev, sympathy points. Drafter to drafter, I'd give you more, but you know the system, and my memory is shotty.

[JEStucker]

Jev, sympathy points. Drafter to drafter, I'd give you more, but you know the system, and my memory is shotty.

Drafter?

I'll be finishing my degree in Drafting in December... currently working as a drafter for a life safety engineering firm.

[Jev Moldara]

Jev, sympathy points. Drafter to drafter, I'd give you more, but you know the system, and my memory is shotty.

Points right back atcha Darth Logos...

Drafter?

I'll be finishing my degree in Drafting in December... currently working as a drafter for a life safety engineering firm.

...and to you, JEStucker... but with some advice.

Don't strive to be a drafter. Drafters are the guys who get a sketch handed to them and duplicate it exactly as shown, even if blatant errors exist.

Instead, strive to be a Designer.

A Designer can look at a sketch, draw it out, and make it look beautiful. They see a design and can employ critical thinking skills to find a better way to lay something out, making the drawings that much easier to follow and the design better. For example, I was tasked with laying down locations for junction boxes in a refinery project. There were to be three junction boxes per station (one for Emergency Lights, one for Normal Lights, and one for Receptacles). Each box weighed about 750 pounds. That's 2 and a quarter tons of weight that they wanted to mount on a beam using 5/8" U-Channel bolted to the beam. Basically, it would have held... for about half an hour. The weight of the boxes would have sheared the channel clean off, and with some of them being about 100 feet up, that would have completely destroyed them and killed anyone unlucky enough to be under them. By realizing this, I potentially saved the client millions of dollars in damages and insurance payouts.

The Designer is, in my mind, the perfect position in the Engineering industry. You can do some light engineering (leave the serious stuff to the actual engineers) while enjoying the fun and (most importantly) the hourly pay of a drafter. Plus, if you can make an engineer's life easier by picking up the easy stuff, it makes you valuable to the company, which in turn runs your pay rate up.

[Darth Logos]

Points right back atcha Darth Logos...

...and to you, JEStucker... but with some advice.

Don't strive to be a drafter. Drafters are the guys who get a sketch handed to them and duplicate it exactly as shown, even if blatant errors exist.

Instead, strive to be a Designer.

A Designer can look at a sketch, draw it out, and make it look beautiful. They see a design and can employ critical thinking skills to find a better way to lay something out, making the drawings that much easier to follow and the design better. For example, I was tasked with laying down locations for junction boxes in a refinery project. There were to be three junction boxes per station (one for Emergency Lights, one for Normal Lights, and one for Receptacles). Each box weighed about 750 pounds. That's 2 and a quarter tons of weight that they wanted to mount on a beam using 5/8" U-Channel bolted to the beam. Basically, it would have held... for about half an hour. The weight of the boxes would have sheared the channel clean off, and with some of them being about 100 feet up, that would have completely destroyed them and killed anyone unlucky enough to be under them. By realizing this, I potentially saved the client millions of dollars in damages and insurance payouts.

The Designer is, in my mind, the perfect position in the Engineering industry. You can do some light engineering (leave the serious stuff to the actual engineers) while enjoying the fun and (most importantly) the hourly pay of a drafter. Plus, if you can make an engineer's life easier by picking up the easy stuff, it makes you valuable to the company, which in turn runs your pay rate up.

Points again. I've been the designer before, just not currently. I miss designing and building control cabinets. Call me crazy, but wiring a 10 card PLC was fun. And reading a schematic was like being able to read ancient hieroglyphs.  Good times.

Drafter?

I'll be finishing my degree in Drafting in December... currently working as a drafter for a life safety engineering firm.

This is a contradiction in terms. Life is dangerous.

[Jev Moldara]

Points again. I've been the designer before, just not currently. I miss designing and building control cabinets. Call me crazy, but wiring a 10 card PLC was fun. And reading a schematic was like being able to read ancient hieroglyphs.  Good times.

HA! That's what I do currently.

[Darth Logos]

HA! That's what I do currently.

Lucky.

[Noctis]

Lovebugs.  LOVEBUGS EVERYWHERE.

*gets death spray.  DEATH SPRAY EVERYWHERE.*

[Darth Abaddon]

Alright. I've got a gripe I need to get off my chest. It's firmly nestled next to all the molten metal burns.

I'm in school for welding. I am currently stuck on overhead welding; specifically 1/8in 7018. No matter what position I get into, how hot or cold I run my amps, I can't seem to get it. I know I will eventually. I always do. It's just so "expletive" frustrating. The last week has been as follows: Run bead, burn myself, curse, do a stupid dance while I try to get either molten metal or slag out of my shirt. The beads (welds) come out okay, but I am a perfectionist. They would pass inspection, but aren't good enough to me. I know practice makes perfect, but it's just annoying.

Okay.. End of rant. 

[Darth Logos]

Alright. I've got a gripe I need to get off my chest. It's firmly nestled next to all the molten metal burns.

I'm in school for welding. I am currently stuck on overhead welding; specifically 1/8in 7018. No matter what position I get into, how hot or cold I run my amps, I can't seem to get it. I know I will eventually. I always do. It's just so "expletive" frustrating. The last week has been as follows: Run bead, burn myself, curse, do a stupid dance while I try to get either molten metal or slag out of my shirt. The beads (welds) come out okay, but I am a perfectionist. They would pass inspection, but aren't good enough to me. I know practice makes perfect, but it's just annoying.

Okay.. End of rant. 

Lower your standards or else turn the upside-down to get a more comfortable position. You need that gravity belt thing from Ultra Violet.

[Darth Abaddon]

Lower your standards or else turn the upside-down to get a more comfortable position. You need that gravity belt thing from Ultra Violet.

I can't turn it upside down. It would then be flat, not overhead.

[Darth Logos]

I can't turn it upside down. It would then be flat, not overhead.

Then you are left with only one option.

[ThreadJack]

Alright. I've got a gripe I need to get off my chest. It's firmly nestled next to all the molten metal burns.

I'm in school for welding. I am currently stuck on overhead welding; specifically 1/8in 7018. No matter what position I get into, how hot or cold I run my amps, I can't seem to get it. I know I will eventually. I always do. It's just so "expletive" frustrating. The last week has been as follows: Run bead, burn myself, curse, do a stupid dance while I try to get either molten metal or slag out of my shirt. The beads (welds) come out okay, but I am a perfectionist. They would pass inspection, but aren't good enough to me. I know practice makes perfect, but it's just annoying.

Okay.. End of rant. 

As long as they pass, don't worry about it for now. Eventually, with practice, you'll get it down to your standards.