I know I've been complaining a lot about work lately but...

[Californiablonde]

My coworker really is a piece of work. There's just two of us in the attendance department and her position is above mine. Some days she acts all nicey nice and wants to know all about my personal business. She pretends to be overly concerned about my kids' welfare and is always asking questions about my ex. I regret ever trusting her with my personal information. This morning is a prime example. I was in the middle of helping a parent, and all the sudden she is screaming at me to kill a bug that's running by near her desk. I guess her perfectly spiked stilletto heels are too good to squash a bug with, so she makes me do it. I go over there and see a very tiny baby roach next to her desk so I step on it. She then tells me she knows there's no roaches in HER house so obviously it came from "someone else." There's only two of us in the attendance office so obviously she is accusing me of having **** roaches in my home.

I told her I don't have roaches in my house either so obviously it didn't come from me. She acted like she didn't believe me. About four years ago we lived in an apartment building that was infested with roaches. A bunch of us tenants complained and the manager repeatedly sent exterminators but nothing helped. I ended up moving out because of it and a lot of other tenants moved out along with me. I told her about it and now she's accusing me of having roaches at my new place. I have lived in several different apartments since the roach incident and haven't had another one since. So how dare she accuse me of being unclean and having cockroaches in my home? And who says it even came from somebody's house? We do have food here at the school and people eat around the office all the time and it could have came from anywhere. So this is just another prime example of why I want to get the hell out of here. I am so burnt out and so sick of work drama.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I learned a long time ago to NOT share personal details at work... well, maybe with somebody I've been working with for 5 years or more and know who they are and what their reputation is.
This is more common than you might think.

 

[Californiablonde]

From the very beginning she pretended to be my best friend and I fell for it. Then she double crossed me on more than one occasion. Never again will I trust her or anybody else here. I did get a very nice compliment from another coworker today about how much weight I'm losing. She says she can't believe how thin I'm getting. That totally made my day. It's always nice to get a compliment or two.

 

[Liahona]

Way to go on losing weight!

 

[AnnieO]

Roaches are everywhere... Especially outside. You work in a school, right? No telling where they came from. Ignore her. She's a bully with low self esteem or she wouldn't need to put you down.

AND... Way To Go on losing weight!!! How are you doing it?

 

[BusynMember]

You know, I really can't stand people like your co-worker. She is on her high horse due to her own low self-esteem trying to make YOU feel inferior to her.

I personally feel very sorry for anyone who feels the need to torture herself by wearing high spiked heels (giggle) She would have twisted her ankle if she'd tried to stomp on the roach. (I know. My bad!)

 

[Californiablonde]

AnnieO I am doing weight watchers and have lost about 18 pounds so far. The weight has been coming off slowly but they say the slower it comes off the more likely it will stay off, so I'm happy. MidwestMom, it's not just the spiked heels. It's the short, tight skirts and low cut tops. She's always complaining that she's cold. No wonder. I am in my comfy jeans and flip flops every day and I am comfortable. I don't find the need to draw attention to myself the way she does.

 

[BusynMember]

Well, CB, in my humble opinion her dress is inappropriate for a school. What can I say? Can you imagine how the kids giggle about her?

 

[susiestar]

She sounds like the reg ed 5th grade teacher that Wiz refused to have anything to do with. He went to her room exactly twice and said he was going to drive her nuts if they made him go back. ALL the kids knew she wore either thongs or no underwear at all because she flashed them constantly -and it was no accident. Her husband is a counsellor in town and has some info that some people on the board of ed don't want anyone to know so she is bulletproof, but both kids and parents loathe her. One preacher kept trying to get her fired for inappropriate dress and attire and lots of people thought he was just mean until the PTA garage sale a few years ago. Her husband brought a bunch of kittens up to try to get them adopted out and it turned out to be the hugest mistake he could make. The teacher told anyone who came that she thought her husband wasn't a 'real man' because he would not hit the kittens iwth a rock to get rid of them. She had students crying and people refusing to buy anything because of this. The PTA president finally told her to either leave or shut her mouth because she was an idiot and the meanest sluttiest person alive. The teacher was honestly shocked that anyone objected to her clothing or topics of conversation. When she asked me why people objected to talking about kittens being killed iwth rocks, I told her I could not explain because she was too stupid to understand. I was done being polite to her and my kids were out of her school later that week. She cried and I got six high fives. I didn't say it to be mean, I just could not explain it in a way she would pretend to understand. she did know why, she was pretending not to because she wanted sympathy. She is a truly bad actor and I don't have much patience. I told her not to ask me because she wouldn't like the answer, but she insisted on an answer so I gave her one. I warned her.

People act like that because htey want power and they like the reaction.

CB, your coworker treats you badly when she wants to feel good about herself. She is likely very very threatened by your weight loss because then she won't be the 'cute one'. She thinks if you look good and are dressed appropriately (though I would not wear flip flops to school personally, they are not very professional and they have zero support or shock absorption) then she won't look better than you do. She clearly has no clue how to dress appropriately or has some need to be seen as a sex object by students and parents, rather than to be the professional and authority figure she is supposed to be. Years ago a therapist explained this to me. We all have a bucket and a ladle inside. When we feel bad, our bucket is getting empty. Many people think that to fill their bucket, they have to reach into other people's buckets to take some of their good feelings. All this does is spill what is in their bucket and they end up emptier than when they started. Those who try to share what is in their bucket by making others feel better and by being kind end up with a full bucket because by sharing what they have, they receive more positive things in life, rather like using the water you have to prime the pump rather than drinking every last drop and having the pump not bring up more water.