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The office jerk

AlinaF

Every office has one and you had to put up with them at least at the start of your career.

Some of them are knowledgeable but jerks nevertheless.

Share your stories.

 
Feb 1, 18 6:09 pm
sameolddoctor

I am one of them (the jerks). End of Story.

Feb 1, 18 7:04 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

cheer up. you got a bunch of cold hard cash.

Feb 1, 18 7:10 pm  · 
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We already knew that, no biggie.

Feb 1, 18 7:22 pm  · 
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JonathanLivingston

#goals

Feb 1, 18 7:25 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Big supply of jerks out there.

Feb 1, 18 8:00 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor

Tinbeary, looks like I struck a nerve there.

Feb 1, 18 8:11 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I said cheer up.

Feb 1, 18 8:24 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor

You seem to have a lot of time for being a business owner! Thats reason to cheer up.

Feb 1, 18 8:58 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

yes, thanks. I'm flattered that you are so interested in me but honestly its kinda creepy.

Feb 1, 18 9:06 pm  · 
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randomised

Whatever floats your boat doc...

Feb 2, 18 2:58 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Don't let them get to you. That is what they want. They are jerks to try to throw you off cause that they know they is the only way they know how to try to look good. A jerk is named after the physical action of jerking, like grabbing your elbow to make you trip. Or whack you in the knees, Tonya Harding type stuff.

Feb 1, 18 8:03 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

The only people who think I'm a jerk are the squirmy contractors I catch cutting corners or the lazy P.engs I constantly need to correct their work.

Feb 1, 18 8:17 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

we had one p.eng today issue a formal compliance letter to the city on one of our projects with the another architecture office's name instead of ours.

Feb 1, 18 8:31 pm  · 
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joseffischer

our P. Engs are in-house... it makes it worst because they think there's no competition.

Feb 2, 18 9:36 am  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Engineers are so lazy. Unrelated to lazy engineers, I saw 40 project manuals printed with the wrong client name once and it activated my giggle reflex. It was a relief giggle - was relieved I wasn't to blame. The principal printed them himself when he should have just had me do it. Anyways, giggling got me in trouble. Life lessons, don't giggle at fuck-ups.

Feb 2, 18 9:47 am  · 
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Don't giggle at your boss's fuckups. Everybody else is fair game.

Feb 2, 18 12:58 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I learn best through experience.

Feb 2, 18 1:31 pm  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

I worked in a firm, design firm, Omaha. Never put together construction documents before, mostly a 3dMax guy. I was naive, overwhelmed, and doing documents for the first time, by hand. The first sheet I put together was horrid. The principle of the firm saw fit to pin the drawing up, on a wall, and invite the office to see it while he proceeded to eviscerate my attempt, and took great pleasure in completely humiliating me. That experience taught me a great lesson; how to treat people with humility and respect their path.

Feb 1, 18 8:50 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I have a guess as to who that is.

Feb 1, 18 9:07 pm  · 
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bowling_ball

In your principal's defense, they're the principal, in principle. Principal.

Feb 2, 18 9:21 pm  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

Do tell...

Feb 1, 18 9:10 pm  · 
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Some jerk brought a puppy to our office today and the whole place oohed and aaahed and squeed and took turns holding her and cracking up when she barked and following her around to see if she would play and...yeah, that guy was a hero, not a jerk.

Feb 1, 18 10:01 pm  · 
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bowling_ball

I brought one of mine to the office yesterday. Wish I could do that every day. I still may be a jerk

Feb 2, 18 9:22 pm  · 
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randomised

If I can't recall any jerk at the offices I work(ed) at, maybe by a process of elimination that would make me the jerk :(

Feb 2, 18 2:54 am  · 
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senjohnblutarsky

If you don't know the office jerk, you are the office jerk. 


I'm the office smartass. 

Feb 2, 18 7:31 am  · 
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randomised

No, I'm the office smartass!

Feb 2, 18 9:30 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

Instead of being a Jerk to my GC this morning, I decided to give them a win.  Fingers crossed it pays back with interest on the next fuck up.

Feb 2, 18 9:37 am  · 
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joseffischer

hmmm, we do a lot of govt, specifically lower-ed work... I had to learn, at least on those jobs, the strategy you're employing above doesn't work. Every new fuck up results in a new change order where the GC tries to ink out more money, and in the GCs eyes each change only relates to previous changes if it helps him argue for more money

Feb 2, 18 12:01 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

I avoid gov work like a cross-carrying bible-thumping plague. In my current projects, we work with experienced repeat clients (whom we've done many multi-million $ projects) so favours in one job may transfer to others. 8-)

Feb 2, 18 12:05 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

I'm the office fairy godmother.

Feb 2, 18 9:40 am  · 
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JLC-1

the jerk was one of the partners, everybody tried to avoid being assigned to work with him, once I entered his office and he was blank staring outside, who knows how long had he been like that. He was a known jerk since our college days.

Feb 2, 18 10:43 am  · 
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archanonymous

There's a few jerks where I work... it's a big office. Mostly big ego's without the experience and humility to match.  

I am definitely an asshole to contractors and consultants when i need to be, but try to start out every project with respectful relationships and giving them the benefit of the doubt - it's after they start fucking up that i start yelling into my phone. 

Feb 2, 18 10:50 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

I was a big giant jerk on my last project to a flooring contractor. I showed up to a deficiency review late and, for some reason, dressed in a suit, and crossed the room immediately and stopped the GC mid-sentence as he was trying to justify poor work. Told him I did not care about the rational, bad work is bad work. I'm working with the same flooring GC on another project now and during the kick-off meeting, we discussed in a laughing manner that the same issues would not arise again. It's business. no time to make things personal.

Feb 2, 18 12:09 pm  · 
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archanonymous

Always be suited. At least in the city where I practice, I have noticed greater respect and deference from contractors. Especially when you take your jacket off get down into some gross hole and bust out the tape and start measuring stuff. It's like "oh this guy isn't fucking around"

Feb 2, 18 12:30 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

^Agreed. I just recall my outfit standards were a tad higher on that particular day. I love it when some worker confuses me for another worker. Do I look like a bang metal sheets for a living?

Feb 2, 18 12:32 pm  · 
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BulgarBlogger

I'd respect a jerk that is a jerk to your face. I've seen office politics play out in ways that are too jerky to recount in a few sentences. There are people who smile at you and pretend everything's fine; next thing you know, someone's being canned. 

However, there is a line. Clients can sometimes be bigger jerks than the people you work with.

And then there's the "boss".... bosses can be jerks too, especially if they throw you under the bus.


Feb 2, 18 12:14 pm  · 
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zonker

there are jerks and jerkets - I remember this one ruthless COO at this one firm

Feb 2, 18 1:27 pm  · 
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ronniemesa

Well since I can't think of one I can only assume I'm it. 

Feb 2, 18 4:50 pm  · 
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AlinaF

Our office jerk-smartass is a skinny guy who likes to bullshit the boss about BIM, taking advantage of the boss' lack of knowledge/interest in the subject. In reality he is no more than a self taught Revit technician who improvises crappy solutions when he finds himself short of real hard skills. He also likes to pick on easy targets like junior staff, probably because he is insecure and needs to feel/seem superior. Once I took the pleasure to confront him on his 'BIM expertise' which I think scared the shit out of him since he shut his mouth and hasn't spoken to me since then. Hehehe. (I am my own kind of jerk)

Feb 2, 18 7:24 pm  · 
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zonker

AlinaF 

I am that guy - 

Feb 2, 18 8:08 pm  · 
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OneLostArchitect

jerk off

Feb 2, 18 9:16 pm  · 
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