My Boss Screamed at Me Tonight

Well, that's the thing. I'm not a quitter. I don't like to quit.

They need me, and I need them. It will be interesting to see which side breaks first.

 

Does anyone here really believe some woman SCREAMED for an extended period in the middle of an on-deadline newsroom?

Really?

 

Uh, Night Owl, they don't need you.

 

Well, if he really wants to bash...

"I'll tell ya' one fuckin thing, I hope every team gets hotter than shit and finishes early to stick it up those fucking editors asses. Because if they're indicative of the rest of the editors in this business they can kiss my ass, right downtown, AND PRINT IT! They're really behind you around here. My. Fucking. Ass. They outta go out and get a job and see what its like to earn a living, the motherfuckers don't even work. Eighty-five percent of the newsroom is out earning a living and the other 15-percent come here. It's a playground for the cocksuckers. RIP THEM MOTHERFUCKERS! RIP THEM COUNTRY COCKSUCKERS, THEY WAY THEY RIP OTHERS!"

 

I don't need that from your chair. My skin is pretty thick also.
You're missing the point. Newspapers need good people now more than ever, and the ones they still have don't expect to be treated as dirt.

We stick around because we still love this (dying) industry. Have a little respect for us when we're trying to shovel four stories into the paper on a tough deadline.

 

Are you really that disconnected with this business? Seriously?

 

Why would you not believe that? The woman went ballistic.

It did get real quiet after that, though.

 

You may be the second-least self-aware person on this board.

 

NightOwl,

You needed to cut your boss a little slack, and she needed to do the same for you.

From the sound of it, both parties have done things wrong, during and/or after the situation in question.

My suggestion would have been to just take the yelling while on deadline, realizing that you are on deadline and that that probably figures into her attack on you, and just get done as soon as possible. Just do your job to the best of your ability. It sounds like you did do that.

And, given that, once you were off deadline, I would have asked for a few minutes of your boss's time, behind closed doors, where you could have either had it out, or, you could have asked for/suggested to her a better way of dealing with such a situation in the future so you both don't end up at cross purposes.

Everyone is under pressure in this field, both on a daily basis, and in the larger, broader scheme of things, and each person deals with pressure in his/her own way. Allowances need to be made for that, on both sides of an argument. Especially on deadline.

In the interest of turning this discussion in what would, hopefully, be a more productive direction that might be more positive/helpful -- and less precarious to NightOwl -- I'd like to hear what people here think should have been done, by both the boss and NightOwl, in terms of handling such a situation and/or reactions to it.

Again, by both editors and writers/deskers, while under the gun, and afterwards. Ideally, what should she have done? What should NightOwl have done, while in the situation, perhaps, and definitely, in the aftermath of it?

 

Lord, I hope I'm not the worst. And if I was, how would I know?

 

Anyone who's been an adult for more than 5 minutes knows that they're going to take shit from people in the course of their career. Deal with work at work, and if it gets to the point where it's no longer worth it, leave. Otherwise, no one really cares that you had a shitty day at work. JTFC.