I sometimes feel lucky because I don't get my PTO declined and my bosses (usually) don't break labor laws and while my pay is not high enough for the amount of stress and responsibility I have and I've only gotten one 3% raise in the last 24 months, it is a decent living wage overall. So I don't have any of the major issues at work that crop up on here a lot.
But this morning my boss sent me an email with a quote attached and told me to “buy four of this”. The quote already has a QTY of 3 on it and since he is borderline illiterate in a way that a lot of boomers are, there was a 50/50 chance in my mind of whether he wanted 4 or 12 total units. I sent a polite email asking him to clarify whether he wanted 4 or 12 units and he replied “yes”.
Went to him in person and said “hey, you answered an either/or question with “yes” and I need to know if you want 4 or 12″ or at least I STARTED TO say that and he starts talking over me rudely explaining why it's so obvious that he wants 12 because of some detail about the machine in question that I don't have any knowledge (or need for knowledge, really) of. He interrupts/talks over me 5x a day minimum and blows me off when I try to explain why that's frustrating.
And it's constantly shit like this here — the CFO likes to tell me to man up and regularly raises her voice at me (and others, once cussed out the CEO HARD in front of 10 people who all acted like nothing was happening), most of my colleagues are super rude when I have to give them bad news (supply chain stuff, I am the buyer for a small factory), fulfillment manager hangs up on me midsentence in every third phone call I have with him, etc. Constant cortisol drip going here.
There are no single glaring “call this regulatory place and shut these fuckers down” issues here but the culture is toxic and despite this, it's STILL THE BEST JOB I'VE HAD and I feel trapped. I'm so afraid of being in abject poverty again that I can't bear the thought of quitting without something lined up despite having a few months of expenses saved up but after a 10 hour day there all I have energy to do after work is microwave something unhealthy for dinner, hang out with my cat, and try not to cry. How the hell do fully employed people manage to job hunt??
I can't bear the thought of living like this for another 30+ years and I don't know how anyone can.