Latest news with #co-worker
New York Times
28-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
How to Potty-Train a Co-Worker
Bathroom Battles Can you help me with this problem? I work in an elementary school as an occupational therapist. I work very closely with teachers in the school on Individualized Education Program legal documents, which need to be worked on collaboratively — I can only do my part if everyone else does their part. I have a co-worker that I work especially closely with, not by my choosing. Professionally he is obnoxious, always waiting until the last minute to complete parts of the document that are required for me to do my part, and terrible at staying on track during meetings… These are things I can handle. I can speak with him about these things. Where I struggle is that his bathroom habits are disgusting. In the school there are only four adult bathrooms. Teachers are all strapped for time, including finding time to use the bathroom, so I get that things might be a little rushed in the bathroom. The problem is that I have entered the bathroom immediately after him multiple times to find a toilet seat covered in urine and a toilet full of frothy pee. We've made eye contact and greeted each other as he exits and I enter. As someone who sits on a toilet to use it, this is unacceptable. This is unprofessional, since this is a shared space, but it doesn't necessarily rise to the level of bringing it up to my supervisor. I have to keep working with this guy, and using the bathroom after him. What should I do? — Anonymous Disgusting. (Your use of the word 'frothy' really sent me over the edge.) I agree that this is unacceptable. And universal: Though the subject makes for a provocative advice column question, I'll bet most of those reading this have had to deal with a co-worker — known or unknown — with disgusting bathroom habits. And it can feel purposeful sometimes. It feels that way to me, at least. Which brings me to this: I wonder if part of the issue here is that your colleague is passive-aggressively doing this deliberately. Does he seem displeased with his work? Is he hostile in other ways? You don't seem to feel any hesitation about discussing your challenges with him professionally; I wonder whether it might be worth having a bigger, 30,000-foot discussion with him about whether he's even happy in his job. I agree that your colleague's behavior doesn't necessarily rise to the level of making an intervention from a supervisor necessary, but I also don't think you should be expected to grin and bear it. Here's my advice: Design and print four signs and tape each sign on the outside of the door of each of the four bathrooms, or on the wall next to the toilet, where everyone can see them. The signs should state plainly, and succinctly, that people who use the bathroom are expected to clean up after themselves, which means flushing the toilet and wiping away bodily fluids so that surfaces are clean for other people. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE My daughter was killed in a murder-suicide by someone I trusted to love her... just weeks after the tragedy here's why I forgive them
It was an ordinary Monday morning. Kara Hanning had just begun her work week at her banking job when her phone lit up. It was a text from a former co-worker. The woman had been watching the news: there had been some sort of incident on the Louisiana road where Hanning's ex, James Lee Sadler, lived with his family. The area was swarmed by police cars and ambulances.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Carolyn Hax: Husband brushes off his side texts to a female co-worker
Carolyn Hax is away. The following first appeared Feb. 4, 2011. Dear Carolyn: I just found out my husband of 12 years has been texting a female co-worker in and out of work. I found out quite by accident. They were joking about the football pool. When I told him I don't think that's appropriate, he said I'm being ridiculous and he would have no problem with me texting other guys. I'm not a prude by any stretch, and I don't think I've ever been called ridiculous, so should I lighten up and get some texting buddies or what? — Burlington, Vt. Burlington, Vt.: Absolutely, because tit-for-tat thinking is always so great for a marriage. The problem with your problem is that the same facts can point in two completely different directions: the cheating direction, where joshing becomes flirting becomes more (a story as old as the office), and the clingy direction, where even the mildest interaction with the opposite sex brings on a wave of spousal overreaction. In favor of your husband's take is the fact that they were joking about a football pool. Credible as strictly collegial banter. In favor of your take is your husband's reaction. Even if he's right, calling you ridiculous — i.e., shifting the blame to you — was neither kind nor productive. Deflecting is too often the strategy of someone with something to hide. But, then, calling you ridiculous could also be a cry of desperation by someone who's tired of defending himself against charges of 'inappropriate' behavior when he's being completely true to you while swapping stinkin' jokes with a stinkin' colleague. If I've argued in a sufficient number of circles, then we're ready for the advice: Don't read his texts, read your own marriage. If he's loving and present, then that's the whole point. Don't lose it amid texting forensics. If he's not loving and present, then don't lose that point in the texting drama, either. Instead, figure out why you're not the person he's texting for grins. Presumably, you used to be attentive to each other, playful, engaged in a way beyond diamonds. Where that has gone and what you can do to reengage him are the better questions to face. Dear Carolyn: This is not an earth-shattering problem, but one I would like to address. My sister, almost 80 and with a history of being critical, very nicely (?) sends presents to my grown children and grandchildren. Their thank-yous are erratic, and she complains to me about not receiving responses. I have told her my children are adults, and have been raised to write thank-you notes, but it is no longer my job to tell them what to do. I suggested she either not send presents or accept that she may not get thanked. My daughter complains that every time she sees my sister, she is instantly met with accusations about not sending notes. What is my role in this, if any? — Anonymous Anonymous: Nonexistent. This is like handing out candy. If you want to point out to your daughter, next time she complains, that writing thank-you notes is an easy way to get her aunt off her back, then go for it. (The gods of the obvious will send thank-yous.) Otherwise, feel free to respond to everyone's complaints with 'Okay' and a hop to your subject of choice.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- The Independent
Manager at a Popeye's restaurant shot employee over burnt biscuits, cops say
A manager at a Popeyes restaurant in North Carolina is facing an attempted murder charge after shooting his co-worker over burnt biscuits, cops say. Rodney Wood, 22, was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder in the May 11 incident, WAFB reported. The shooting unfolded around 6 p.m. at a Popeyes restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wood and the other employee were arguing over overcooked biscuits, a customer who witnessed the shooting told police. The witness said both Wood and the other employee went outside after one 'challenged' the other and the two began fighting. While the two were sparring, Wood allegedly pulled out a gun and fired two rounds. Video taken from the scene shows '[Wood] discharging his firearm twice at point-blank range,' according to court documents obtained by WAFB. Both shots struck Wood's co-worker – one in the groin and one in the chest. The injured employee was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries before undergoing surgery. When police arrived at the restaurant, Wood was gone. While witnesses told authorities he had run away, police quickly caught him in the same shopping center. Wood claimed the co-worker he shot was also a manager, police said. He also told police that when the two stepped outside, he was punched in the face three times. He then allegedly fired two 'warning shots,' which were not meant to kill, he told police. While Wood attempted to justify his actions, the arrest affidavit claims 'he failed to articulate a credible, imminent threat of deadly force necessary to support a self-defense claim under state law.'
