Then there’s my other boss, a combo of Micromanager and Human Pep talk. Quite possibly the worst combo imaginable. She even instigated “staff huddles” on Monday mornings. You know, like sales people sometimes have. Except we’re just office minions. They’re just conference calls, thank God; not the huggy smiley puke-inducing hand-holding the phrase brings to mind. I can’t imagine a more productive use of my time than spending the first half-hour of my Monday on the phone not listening to my co-workers because whatever their work entails doesn’t affect me, and then having to make up a list of things of my own to tell them while they’re not listening to me. My favorite thing about her is that once she has instigated a new policy, which is about twice weekly at this point, and always counterproductive in some way to someone, she phrases it this way: “You all need to be doing X and Y and it needs to be done by Friday. I need it done exactly this way, and you need to report back to me by Wed. on your progress. Are we all OK with that?” Haaaahahahaha. Are we all OK with that? Nice touch.

I honestly felt like less of a child in high school.

At my old job, my first boss fit the avoider description well, while I had a micromanager for my second boss who sometimes become a drill sergeant. Good times!