I got in trouble at work today

what you should do is write out the 'snappy' email and then leave it for 10 mins. go have a drink or a piss or something and then come back and read it with a cool head. chances are you'll not want to send it and just delete it. i often take frustration out on an email and then end up deleting it.

it helps keep things professional and that is what this is all about. you was not professional and you will most likely get a warning or disciplinary.

The problem is with yourself. You brought this on yourself with your attitude towards the woman, your boss hired her for a reason and she was only doing her job, maybe she has the authority to do what she has been doing. If she was starting to annoy you, you could have had a chat with her face to face and kept calm, just explain the situation to her about how she is annoying you with what she is doing. When you go to your boss be prepared to apologise for your attitude, but to make things a bit fair ask to see the email she sent to the boss and have a copy of what you sent to her just in case there are any discrepancies in what was sent to him. Also explain why she was upsetting you and why you had got to the point were you lost your composure and you should have went about it differently. Don't use the more money or age as an excuse or that you don't like her that could end up with you getting sacked.

Shit happens, live and learn, i called my boss a nazi once.

Then again im not in the stupid corporate America type job either so meh.

People get too fucking butt hurt.

Maybe you could apologize for how you said it, not what you said.

Here's a tip for you guys should you ever have a job loading trucks at UPS:

Don't yell at your bosses boss and punch a box right in front of him while doing so. And if you do that and he tells you to go home right now and he'll call you on Monday to tell you if you still have a job don't tell him to fuck off and then ignore him and get back to work.

Actually, you know what? Go ahead and do that. It worked out alright for me.

Fake your own death.

I have a simple rule, do what my coworkers ask of me unless it interfers with what my boss asked, then I do that, unless it interfered with what his boss told me then I do that. All people at my work are around 20-35 and I in between that so it is fairly relaxed athmosphere and we get along so I cannot relate much.

@mosespippy said:

Write out your angry emails but delete them instead of clicking send.

Also make sure you put in the "To" field LAST.

I'm not sure I'm with you on this issue. Mostly because of the whole "she earns 50% more than me because she's older" thing.

It might help your attitude towards her to maybe stop and think WHY she really earns 50% more than you while having to do less work.

The most blindingly obvious thing (and often one of the key attributes to an employer) may be the amount of experience she has accrued over and above yours that affords her the ability to negotiate a premium on her salary. Also the fact that she appeared to be looking out for the needs of the company in trying to avoid an unnecessary expenditure may be another reason why the boss is being sympathetic to her side of this "issue"

As some have previously mentioned, on the face of it this could all probably have been avoided if you had just either had a quick talk to the woman face to face or, if you really couldn't stomach that, had a word with your boss and got them to decide whether she was overstepping the mark as I'm assuming it's probably not your job to say what is or isn't in her scope of responsibility.

Of course this is all just going on what has been posted here, but common sense would dictate that (even if you have an irrational hatred of a work colleague) you are better off calmly reasoning with that person when it comes to work matters like this before they escalate.

In the long run it can only be a good thing if you (and any prospective employer) know you are able to deal with these situations calmly and rationally without resorting to firing off snarky emails that can potentially disrupt the workplace.

So apologize, move on and hopefully learn from it for the future.

depends how you feel about your job. Mine is purely to fund me doing things I enjoy and pay bills, the job itself i loathe. so I dont take it to heart if I fuck up and get in trouble. As long as Im not likely to get fired, then I'd start caring.

We all make mistakes, trust me on that. I believe you should have spoken to your boss firstly before you sent a "heat of the moment" email.

Be professional in all situations.

Don't feel bad. Things like this happen no matter where you work. Learn to worry about yourself and your performance, not anyone else's. Unless that is your job. Learn to ignore certain things even if they suck. Choose your battles wisely. Next time have an off the record casual conversation with you superior about what is bothering you and see what they say. You probably would have got some really good advice that would have helped out and kept you from making a mistake. Management should welcome and respect any concerns an employee has. It will show you are willing to address something in one way or another rather than make a bad decision like you did. It shows you are willing to communicate. Next thing is to man up and give a quick painless apology to the employee and your boss. You had a bad day. It happens. If they are sensible enough you should gain a little respect by the end of all this. If not, you are at least respecting yourself by doing the right thing and learning from it. It may be your first but it certainly will not be your last encounter like this.

Lick whoever is the person who gives out the promotion in the arse, don't ever bad-mouth a co-worker personally... do it in front of your boss only if you can actually hurt his reputation and have a reason to do so that is job-related no personality related.

So yes, if you work in the kind of place where you might meet some nasty people, it's kinda irrational to try and argue with those people unless you gain something out of it.

Step one would have been talking to her about it like a normal person and then escalating to a supervisor if necessary.

@darkedhunter: I'd say you should. One email was bad enough, but a second? Resorting to email in the first place was, to be charitable, a poor choice. The right thing to do was to go to your boss directly with these issues. Presumably her greater work experience, 'cos you know she's old and all, meant that she made the right choice of what and when to dump you in it. Now you've learned a lesson she apparently already had.

@killacam said:

kill her in her sleep.

yes

You are all right. Minus the "kill her" advocates (you're wrong but your hearts in the right place).

It was a bad way to handle the situation. My communication was inappropriate and I acted like a tool. My boss is fairly forgiving (someone did heroin in the bathroom once and did not get fired) so things will most likely improve from here. I've learned a lot about workplace etiquette and how to treat people in general from this whole debacle, and I feel like a better employee and person for it.

Thanks for the honesty and advice Giantbomb community. It was hard, but I appreciate it.

I don't think you acted like a tool, but the way you handled the situation was wrong. As long as you apologize, though, things should be cool.

If you genuinely didn't leave the faucet on, odds are it was a blanket reminder to the entire staff, OR she could be forgetful. I've met people who constantly remind me to do things I've already done, or who remind me not to do things I haven't done and I know not to do. It's not worth arguing with them on it, even if it is annoying as hell.

Don't beat yourself up over it. You should just apologize and move on. It doesn't really sound like she was being that crazy... Also: Assume everything you write on email/internet could be viewed by anyone at anytime.

@darkedhunter said:

Blah, here is the whole 4 emails. I feel as though I must purge it like a poison from my body. I'm not arguing for me, again I feel terrible.

Her: "just a reminder, it’s going to be in the 30’s during the night this week so before leaving, please turn the faucets on a slow trickle. I came in this am and they weren’t on and luckily there were no issues. Before I leave today, they will be turned on."

Me:"The weather forecast put the lows in the low 40s for Sunday night Monday morning. I'm not huge on wasting water. Please check the forecast before assuming they need to be turned on. Also, please don't have C***** open doors for you during NMS hours when you are in the office (it can put her in situations she is not equipped to handle), that is your job."

Her:"Thanks for the response. I did check the 7 day forecast and It showed lows in the upper 20’s and low to mid thirties and I didn’t want to take a chance on the pipes freezing as I know what kind of expense that can lead to.

I was on the phone with Dave about another issue when I asked C***** to open the door in D so a customer could get in. I wasn’t aware that she isn’t suppose to open the doors or I wouldn’t have asked her. I thought we were all crossed trained on that. I’ll clarify with J*****."

Me:"Thank you for checking the forecast. Being aware is the best way to safeguard against unnecessary costs. In regards to training, you don't have to clarify anything with J*****, you can just ask the other employees. I'm sure C******* is capable of going to D section (she has had the NMS training), but generally when you are in the office you should be attending to customers, that is why you are there. I'm sure Dave would understand as well. Furthermore, please don't leave F section locked from the outside overnight. It's a security issue. Also, leaving the lights on in M section and A section overnight is also something that should not happen. Please be mindful."

I feel like I should be picking these up as audio logs. For the last time the password to F Section is 4987. J.