MetaChat - Is this as outrageous as I think it is?

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17 December 2007

Is this as outrageous as I think it is? →[More:]

Or am I overreacting because I'm prejudiced against my crazy boss?

I overheard poo head (as I call her) talking on the phone to a potential new client: a man who wants to have his elderly mother's bedroom and bathroom re-decorated. My boss was explaining that we do rather high-end residential (i.e. expensive), and said "I need to know how much she wants to throw at this." That in itself was unprofessional, I think, but then I hear her say:

"Well, she's gonna live for at least another ten years, so... you know..."

My jaw just dropped. I was aghast, and wanted nothing more than the guy to hang up on her. He's coming in tomorrow to discuss the project, so he couldn't have been that offended. But I thought that was an incredibly tactless thing to say.

post by: Specklet at: 15:01 | 12 comments

I really detest your boss.

posted by iconomy 17 December | 15:13

Wow. I thought my boss is an occasional shitheel.

posted by deadcowdan 17 December | 15:28

Maybe the client said something more despicable like "I don't know how long the old hag will live, so I don't want to spend too much!", which makes the response seem more reasonable? That's the optimistic interpretation I'd come up with if I hadn't heard all the horror stories about poo head.

posted by mullacc 17 December | 15:28

Heh. That sort of thing is common in our financial planning office, but we usually let the clients say it.

posted by small_ruminant 17 December | 15:30

Wait - I thought you got a new job, specks. Is your new boss crazy too or is this just the tail end of things at the old place?

posted by ooga_booga 17 December | 15:30

Oh, and it certainly was tact-free and unprofessional. I would think it a very dangerous thing to do, even if one were following a client's lead. Not being a member of the family in question would render it questionable that one would have a license to criticize, unlike the client.

posted by ooga_booga 17 December | 15:32

As I've said before, it's clear that it has been way too long since this woman was accountable to someone else.

posted by pieisexactlythree 17 December | 15:59

ooga, I'm at my old place until the end of the week; new job starts on the 26th (yay!).

I've spoken with that client, and he is polite, enthusiastic, and obviousy loves his mother. He and his siblings are all pitching in to have this work done, and it's a surprise for her.

If someone said something like that about an elderly relative of mine, I would be shocked and call the person on their lack of good manners.

posted by Specklet 17 December | 15:59

Pretty unprofessional, IMO. But par for the course for poo head.

posted by chewatadistance 17 December | 16:00

Yay for new jobs! I suppose it's a measure of the client's feelings for his mother that he's willing to put up with asshattery in order to do something special for her.

posted by ooga_booga 17 December | 16:06

I hope on Christmas you can enjoy a nice tasty Good Riddance Sandwich.

posted by grouse 17 December | 17:20

Yrrr--perhaps your boss is intimate with the harridan designer I've been dealing with; who simpered that I shouldn't have my place and padded the bills. I didn't realize there's a whole language I need to know for remodeling---I tried to explain that I didn't want bookcase type shelving in the linen and hall closets; I've just found out that I should have said I wanted brackets and standards.

I have tons of stress right now, but it doesn't feel right jumping into bunnyfire's thread.

posted by brujita 18 December | 03:13

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