Why I Hated My Last Workplace

I am not some super-experienced employee. But 3 out of 4 offices I have worked at so far were terrible. This is about my last workplace which I have left very recently. I am sharing all of it here with you because even on the last day, they made sure I suffer somehow. I needed to write it all out and take the burden off my heart. If you read this till the end, I thank you in advance for sharing my frustration.

Drivers Over Writers

This is where it all began.

Our office provides official transport to certain areas. I utilized it from the very first day when there were protests going on in my area. So one day I worked for my freelancing client till 4AM but still sacrificed the rest of my sleeping hours to catch the car on time. MY pick-up time was at 8AM and that’s exactly when I reached the usual pick-up point. I did not see the driver or our office car. He often came late because of the traffic. So I thought this is one of those days.

I called him at 8:12AM. No response. I guessed again that he must be in the traffic. 40 minutes passed by. No call, no nothing. I stood there under the sun, fatigued, sleep-deprived, for 40 long minutes. Then I called the driver again.

He spoke to me in a tone as if I was working for him, as if he owns me. He told me in a cold husky tone “YOU didn’t come.” When I asked him “Why didn’t you call me?”, he answered in the same tone “I’m hanging up”. No remorse, only arrogance.

When I told my office’s HR about it, two of them laughed at my tears. They kept saying “oh this is such a simple matter! He just forgot to pick you up! Lol!” Then the other one, who is supposed to be the senior HR executive, talked to the driver as if a five-year-old has accidentally broken his toy.

The driver again accused me (in front of the executive) of being late. The executive insisted “It is just a misunderstanding. It doesn’t matter.” Doesn’t matter? This driver spoke to me arrogantly and left me there standing for 40 minutes, WILLINGLY. None of it was a “mistake”.

This same driver then tried to sneak up on me at an office party. He came very close to me and tried to say something at a low volume sneaking up on my back. As soon as I figured he is so close to me I turned the other way and left that spot. Knowing how incompetent the HR is, I didn’t share this with them either. They all LOVE this criminal driver even though he says to pedestrians on road “You can’t touch me even if I cut your throat”.

This office clearly valued drivers more than writers, which explains quite a lot about their “trajectory” of success.

Unprofessional HR

Whenever I asked the HR about the possible date of holidays or the timing during special days (like Ramadan), the answer was always the same: “oh I don’t know!”

When I came here for the first time, I asked them about the rules and regulations of this office. With time I understood, all their information was wrong. They didn’t even know when the office starts! What a joke.

Whenever I told them about a problem, their main aim was always to defend the company, NOT to solve my issue. It was pretty clear pretty soon — they don’t know what they are doing or why they are here.

Sexist Executive

The only male HR executive was a 100% sexist and very very proud of it. He even had problems if a female sat on the front seat of our office car. He always insisted women should stay indoors, “why do they need to work?!!”. He told me when I was new that “Aren’t you going to marry? Who’ll marry you in a few years when you have no glamour?!!”

Ironically, this is the same guy who looked at the chest of female students in the varsity campus and criticized their character for not wearing an “orna” (scarf hiding the breast area). He always shouted inside the office and lingered around the lunch table even when he was told to leave. Hope you can imagine how annoying it was.

Loud Pervert Jokes

I was the only female employee in our room. It was a large space with more than 10 employees working in their individual cubicles. More often than not, I’d hear AMAZING jokes like “oh look at that! A female endorsing a milk product! Ehehehe”. I was stunned the first time because this was not the normal behavior in this office. But some of the new recruits MADE it the new norm.

Such humor was repeated quite a few times. When an app developer shared his idea of providing maid services through a centralized application, the new pervert recruit said “ohhh, what have you done with maids huh? How many of them have lost virginity to you? Ahahahaha!”

I can’t even…

Careless High Authorities

The authorities of this office paid majority of their employees every THREE months. Yes, you read it right. Three months. Some of the employees seemed very proud of working for no pay (God knows why) but this system was ridiculous. They almost played the same card with our department but we revolted. Then they paid our dues of April on 20th of May. And the dues of May are still unpaid.

The chairperson took all of our feedback on two icons for our upcoming product. One was his choice and the other was the graphic designer’s choice. All of us except three wrote on that sheet why we didn’t like the first icon (chairperson’s choice). The three who agreed with his choice also spoke “oh this won’t matter so why write the truth? I’m just gonna say I like it.” Then the chairperson accepted those three votes and ignored all our comments.

Evidently, our opinions don’t matter to the highest authorities. They just want to hear they’re right, even if they’re wrong.

And The Last Straw…

On my last day, on my way home, all the people I appreciated were absent in the office car. The only three people I regretted being my car partners were there. This included the proudly sexist executive and the threatening driver. Suddenly the car stopped at a place where the sexist was supposed to pick up his wife. We waited for so long that the third passenger left the car and I was all alone with the driver who bullied me, threatened me, laughed at me. I was there in the dark all alone in the car with him for about 20 minutes. I kept remembering my friend’s words that nothing will happen to him once he apologizes to God. It made me cry and cringe even harder. Luckily no one saw it and there was no sound of my tears.

When my patience broke all bounds and I decided to get off the car to find an Uber, that shithead sexist came with his wife. It seemed like this woman can’t take a single step without her husband telling her what to do with her feet. No one remembered where I get off so she sat right beside me. As a result, it was more troubling for me to get down at my drop-off point. This office managed to turn even my last day into an unpleasant experience.

What a freaking ridiculous office this was. I hope no one ever gets stuck with such an incompetent team of sexist, irresponsible and spineless individuals. And I pray that the few good souls working here (maybe six in total) find themselves better and more worthwhile jobs.

Thank God for getting me out of here.