Obnoxious Workplace Habits: #2 — Compulsively Having to Outdo Everyone All the Time
This post is part of the sometimes-series Obnoxious Workplace Habits, wherein I complain about the stupid, rude, and inconsiderate things people do in the office that annoy the rest of us. Feel free to rant away in the comments or suggest a rant via e-mail.
If you’ve ever seen the Penelope character on Saturday Night Live, you know this annoying office character: the person who’s always trying to outdo everyone, regardless of the situation. You worked 20 hours of overtime on that big project last week? Well, she worked 30. You were in the office until midnight on Tuesday? She was in until 2. You were in the top 10% of your class? She was valedictorian at Harvard. You took piano lessons as a child? She took piano and violin.
The reason this sketch is hilarious is that we all have encountered people who do this to a certain extent. And yes these examples are kind of over the top, but some of them aren’t that far-fetched.
What’s the most ridiculous exaggeration you’ve heard in the office? Leave a comment.
Tags: women and business, women in business, business advicce for women, women, woman, business, obnoxious coworkers, annoying coworkers, office etiquette, professionalism, rude, inconsiderate, workplace, know it all, penelope, saturday night live, SNL, kristen wiig, amy adams, video, traffic school, biz chicks rule, kristen king
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7 opinions for Obnoxious Workplace Habits: #2 — Compulsively Having to Outdo Everyone All the Time
Bridget Wright
Apr 28, 2008 at 7:42 am
(one) of the most ridiculous exaggerations that I’ve ever heard in the office…hmmm…that would be the time that one of my co-workers exclaimed that she had walking pnuemonia because we all ONLY had colds.
She was out from work for the next two weeks. Guess she showed us, huh?
Kristen King
Apr 28, 2008 at 7:44 am
LOL, I worked with a girl who did that CONSTANTLY! Glad I’m not alone.
Lori
Apr 28, 2008 at 10:34 am
Weirdest exaggeration I’ve ever encountered was the guy who insisted our former manager had died. Told me he went to his funeral. Funny, when I saw the former manager a month later, he looked really good for a dead guy…
Kristen King
Apr 28, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Yikes! Talk about getting busted! I wonder why he would lie like that… How strange.
Lori
Apr 28, 2008 at 3:06 pm
He denied he ever told me that. I remember very clearly - he said the dude died of a heart attack, that he’d gone to the funeral, that his wife was moving to Connecticut…. the whole shpiel. When I said, “Uh, Rick. I just ran into Fitzy last week…” he said I was mistaken. Yea, sure.
He was a bit of a know-it-all and clown. Thought “Jokes” like that were funny. But that he denied ever saying this showed he knew he’d gone too far. Good. Jerk.
peaches
Apr 28, 2008 at 8:13 pm
While Penelope is probably my favorite SNL character right now, I can’t stand a one-upper in real life! It either makes your work look less significant, or makes the one-upper look like a total bonehead.
Kristen
Apr 30, 2008 at 3:26 pm
@peaches - I don’t mind when people make themselves look like morons (I find perverse pleasure in it, honestly), but I do mind when they interfere with what I need to do!
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