The Bitching Hour Strikes Again

I do remember one coworker who got the job of running our data center and basically had to keep a set of jeans and a sweatshirt to change into if she had to work in the data center for part of a day. That job was extremely laid back on dress code (I described the dress code as “Yes, wear something.”) but managers and such had to dress up a bit more.

It was a couple decades ago, but yes, makeup, the length of earrings, the height of heels, the fabric of the suits were all mentioned. They had to relax the “No tattoos” clause when they realised I’d been with the company for two years with an ankle tattoo that was visible through my nylons.

Edit: Oh, the length of the skirt was important too. It had to bee within one inch of the knees, either above or below.

Yeah, I’m sure he’s a real treat at company parties. Looks like he has some issues paying those well dressed consultants too.

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He states that this is not his dress code, but the one that is imposed by his clients. Also, that there is no dress code for his company at all.

This is the BC default dress code for the USA
While this may seem overstated, a professional appearance is an absolute requirement for Burleson Consulting.

BC being the consulting firm that is represented by that website.

I’m not trying to be a chauvinist here

Says every chauvinist

Wow, that’s just, damn…

Well, to be fair he is right, he isn’t trying to be a chauvinist - it just comes naturally.

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We have no dress code at current employer.

On the plus side I have a very trim, fit, younger female coworker who does NOT believe in “leggings are not pants.” She runs for exercise. It’s obvious.

On the negative side, we had one guy )now departed) who was a bit overweight, fairly hirsute, and liked shorts, tanks, and Birkies.

But mostly we all fall somewhere in between. T-shirts, polos, shorts, jeans, cargo pants. We only had 6 female staff in the office; with the recent acquisition and cutbacks we now have 3 - the dress and skirt ratio is therefore pretty low.

We are officially dress down if we’re not meeting people, and if we are, to dress appropriately for the people we’re meeting. This is a huge improvement over the previous official line of “thou shalt wear a suit” :smiley:

I don’t see the logic of a fancy pansy poncy dress/suit with tie in high summer with hotter-than-hell temperatures.

And then there’s this bit in response to a UK commenter…

Human rights squads? What, are you a communist?

That’s why we treasure living in the USA, where we have freedom from such squads.

Here in the free world, employers have an absolute right to make their employees dress as they see fit.

and…

That’s why we went to war with England, to get away from oppression.

Here is the USA, we have the freedom to hire and fire people for any reason.

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I wonder if the poster saw the inherent irony in that statement? I suspect not.

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Email from HR yesterday: shorts and flip-flops are allowed. No day of week restrictions. The office may as well move to the “come as you are” section of Venice Beach.

If they did not specify how to wear those items, then I say, “Challenge accepted.”

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User: Here is Excel file of a sampling of changes that need to be made across many database. Can you script?
Dakboy: Yes, if I have assurance that the final file is the same format.
U: Here is test file to run on one database. It is CSV and does not have critical column you were expecting.
D: Per our earlier (less than an hour) discussion, I need it to be the same. I have to redo part of my script now. But before I do that, will the final file match the original file you gave me, or are you going to make it CSV with all the columns I need?
U: Yes, it’ll be CSV and I’ll add the column

Time passes

D: OK, script is revised and I’ve run it on your test database. Please look at it
U: silence
D (after walking the office to find U in a meeting with 2 other people): Are you ready to test this? Because I want to go home (at this point I’d been awake since 0345 and in the office for nearly 10 hours)

Next morning

U: Here is second test file
D: (notices that the file’s column headers and encoding have changed :man_facepalming:

slightly later next morning
U: Here is final file
D: (notices that the columns headers are changed yet again, and extra blank fields in the CSV have appeared, and the encoding is still wonky) :man_facepalming: :man_facepalming:

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I’ve been there. Could make for an interesting work day. :slight_smile:

What I said:
It’s frustrating when $other_team forwards me messages like “X says the PC is freezing.” Those messages tell me nothing helpful, other than the user’s name. If I emailed them to say, “X says $other_team’s_product is terrible,” they’d be annoyed and need more info.

$Other_team has implied or straight-up told $users that recent issues are $my_software’s fault, then the network’s fault, then the PC’s fault. We test and/or upgrade each item and the $user’s situation doesn’t improve. $Users are frustrated, and I understand why. $Users think $other_team has a base level of IT knowledge. I’ve tried to maintain that illusion, but I won’t lie to them.

What I wanted to say:
$Other_team can barely function with $other_team’s_product, let alone comprehend an error message. They should’ve been given real training on basic troubleshooting a LONG time ago.

We all know that a new software platform for the whole company is coming, and it sure looks like the company is planning to dump $other_team when that happens. I get this. In the meantime, can we at least be straight with $users that we’re just limping along on this old software, and $other_team can’t help them?

No? Because $users are valuable to $company.TF, and might quit or demand more money to stay? Okay, then I would like more money to put up with being the scapegoat for all of the above.

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Okay, here is the infamous “thong in the power supply” thread, from June 29, 2004, by Severine, Hands of the Bear:

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