Tales of workplace horror

[SINGAPORE] Remember Incredible Tales? I used to camp in front of the television for my weekly dose of horror, only to go to bed with the lights on after.

These days, however, the scariest stories aren’t always paranormal.

Some come from friends who have survived workplaces that would send a poltergeist running.

Unfortunately, questionable workplace cultures aren’t all that rare.

Here are four young adults’ workplace horror stories, which have been edited for clarity.  

Is getting shouted at just part of being a lawyer?

Law student, 29: About a year into my graduate studies, I landed an internship at one of Singapore’s Big Four law firms.

I knew the internship wouldn’t be easy, but the environment ended up being worse than I had imagined.

Work-life balance was practically non-existent. And to top that off, a partner at the firm shouted at juniors almost daily.

They were over the smallest things, such as using the wrong font or formatting a document incorrectly.

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Whether deliberately or not, he would leave his office door open, and the entire floor could hear his scoldings.

Word around the office was that this partner wanted to establish himself as someone intimidating. Well, it worked. I was definitely shaken.

Thankfully, I never ended up being one of his targets. But witnessing his outbursts did make me question my career choice.

Is my future as a lawyer simply to get shouted at every day?

One trainee working under him even ended his year-long traineeship early after eight months, unable to cope with the workload and toxic environment.

Fortunately, my internship lasted only a month. I gritted my teeth through those 30 days and got out. I now know better than to join a Big Four law firm again. 

My boss made us split the bill. Am I the cheapskate?

Writer turned marketing executive, 25: I was just a week into my first full-time job as a writer, and my team organised a farewell lunch for a colleague at a dim sum restaurant.

There were about 10 to 13 of us, including two interns, and the team ordered enough dishes to fill the table.

Our editor-in-chief – who, for context, was the highest ranking employee present – had brought his own food to the restaurant. He did not offer to pay.

Assuming my other bosses would foot the bill, I made sure to offer them the food first and held back from eating too much.

I ended up having only five pieces of dim sum.

When the bill arrived, my deputy editor – the second-in-command – paid.

Upon returning to the office, I was asked to transfer S$30 to the deputy editor. Even the interns had to pay, but were given a “discount” of S$15.

Was I being calculative for thinking it was unfair to split the bill equally when some of us barely ate? Or was my boss the cheapskate?

I’ve since moved to another company and have never encountered a similar situation. My current bosses are very generous and regularly treat the team to meals.

Why are my colleagues fighting over who swore first?

Communications executive, 26: Remember those childhood squabbles over name-calling and who said a “bad word”?

I thought we would have outgrown such arguments by adulthood, until I witnessed two grown-up colleagues fighting over who said what.

It began with a small meeting between two departments. I was working away at my desk, located in front of the meeting room.

A few minutes in, vulgarities were heard coming from the meeting room.

A heated argument had broken out between two colleagues, while everyone else in the room scrambled to calm them down.

I exchanged a confused glance with the colleague next to me. And after unsuccessfully trying to decipher what exactly was happening, we went back to minding our own business.

Eventually, the commotion died down.

But three hours later, I bumped into the same two colleagues outside the toilet.

Round two had begun. Their exchange went something like this:

“Why must you talk to me like that. I don’t use vulgarities one, okay.”

“Because I didn’t like your tone.”

“Okay, but I don’t use vulgarities, unlike you.”

Their voices grew progressively louder until both were shouting. Finally, one declared: “Don’t talk to me right now.” And the argument ended.

While I certainly wouldn’t wish for a repeat performance, I couldn’t help but find the situation amusing.

Two grown men old enough to be my dad arguing over who used vulgarities first. So much for being professionals.

Is mediating conflict an intern’s job?

Works in marketing, 25: During my most recent internship, I grew very close to my team.

But being everyone’s friend at work can sometimes be a bad idea.

On one occasion, two colleagues separately asked me out for lunch. My people-pleasing tendencies kicked in and I felt bad turning either of them down.

So, I scheduled two 30-minute lunches back-to-back.

During my first lunch, colleague A vented to me about feeling wronged by colleague B, who she said failed to credit her for the work they had presented together earlier in the day.

After 30 minutes of playing therapist, I met colleague B, who appeared with red eyes. She told me she had been crying in the office nap room before meeting me.

Then, she shared her side of the story. She, too, felt wronged and was convinced she had given colleague A credit where credit was due.

I somehow ended up stuck in the middle of a conflict I didn’t sign up for. I felt frantic and stressed because I was just an intern. What was I supposed to do?

I wondered why they had both chosen to confide in me. Perhaps it was precisely because I was an intern, which meant my time there was temporary and I was least likely to stir up drama within the team.

Or maybe they truly trusted me? Either way, I lent them a listening ear, offered some reassurance, and suggested that they should talk things out.

The pair eventually chatted over coffee and, from what I could tell, resolved their differences.

Does this mean I can add conflict mediator to my resume now?