Is Your Job Like a Sitcom? Tell Us and Win a Gift Card Valued at $1,000!

A wacky cast of characters. Hilarious (or not-so-hilarious) hijinks. A setting so nondescript it could be anywhere. This description fits your favorite situation comedy on TV, but it can also describe your job in the administrative field.

• Do you and your coworkers vow to catch the office yogurt thief?
  
  
• Is your boss so over-the-top in his requests that they can't be for real?
  
  
• Do you feel like you can hear the laugh track as you get off the elevator Monday mornings?

Tell us how your job is like a sitcom, and you could win a gift card valued at $1,000, provided by Snelling Staffing Services. Just reply to this message and post your story below by Monday, May 5. We'll pick the five best personal stories, and then Monster readers will vote for the one that is most like a sitcom -- and the winner of the gift card!

Please do not include people's actual names or company names and keep your posts to 500 words or less. See the full rules here.

When my supervisor at the financial services office where I worked found out I was gay, she let the president of the company know without my permission.  When I confronted her about it, she responded by telling me she would make it up to me by letting me know something private and privileged about the president of the company and then proceeded to tell me that he had three testicles.  I was his administrative assistant at the time.

Months later, when I worked in the new business office, the president came into my office and shut the door, telling me he had new gay male clients.

"What should I call them?" he asked gravely.

"Well...do they have names?" I replied.

"No, I mean are they boyfriends or buddies or...?"

"Feel free to call them 'spouses' or 'partners'," I sighed.  "You can always ask them which honorific they prefer, but I would stay away from 'significant other'.  It's fallen out of favor."

The conversation went on for ten more minutes and when it was over, the president stopped at the door and said "Maybe we should get you some business cards that say New Business Manager and Lesbian Guru..."  Within the hour, every salesman in the company knew I was a lesbian and was told to ask me any questions relating to homosexuality with regards to greetings and ettiquette.

Well...let me think of where to start.  Okay well first of all I'm a inside sales representative, even though they say it's a customer service position. It's more of a multi-tasking job. I schedule appointments, send out catalogs, set up accounts, do surveys...etc,. They say it's customer service but it's just craziness I tell you.

To begin with, my boss is a woman who owns the company and she's rarely even there to begin with. She's only there when important clients visit and tries to yell at everyone when she can. My supervisor is basically a non-human who eats every hour on the hour and doesn't really answer any questions or concerns. He also likes to gossip with the team leaders about "anything". Doesn't even bother to close the office door. My "team leaders" don't really know what they're doing. They're always running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Me and other co-workers have to "snap" to get their attention if we needed assistance with a call. They only assist when they feel like it basically. They also have Q-Tips which are people who monitors your phone calls. Yet it's like they don't hear anything because if they did....they would've assisted us with the calls in the first place. They basically second guess your calls and then gives your a report saying how you did on some phone calls.

My co-workers are actually nice people, when they aren't wacky. There's one co-worker who is always gloomy, never brings his lunch, and acts as if the world is out to get him. I think it's because he's hungry. There's another co-worker who talks to clients as if they were her family. While we're trying to get the sale or finish assisting the callers, she's chit-chatting with them as if they were friends or family! She even gives them her phone number to call her! That's just some of the characters I work with. There's too many to get into and not enough letters.

The office is a bit small, but they have the cafeteria and bathroom in the same office! The cafeteria is small and it's like you have to run to a seat before someone snatches it. That reminds me...we have a lunch snatcher in our office. We don't know who but everyone is putting all their energy in catching this thief. We have cameras in our office and supposedly no one steals. Yet this thief manages to steal lunches and not get caught. I wonder if those cameras are even on. Also I feel the bathrooms should at least be in another area away from the office. There are cubicles near the bathroom and let me tell you, how can you enjoy your day if all kinds of "different" smells coming from both the men and women bathrooms are wafting through the air?

That's just the gist of what I go through on a daily basis. I know people probably have more better or interesting stories than mine but I felt it necessary to vent a bit about my job. It helps clear my head. Thanks to all for reading.

Hello all,

Funny how Monster brings this up. My Boss and Employees and I were discussing how our job would be great for a reality TV show.

I would have to say my job would be a very interesting Sitcom. First I have to say, that all the employees in the office are gay men. There are only 4 of us in the office. And some of the conversations that we have are just out of this world. Conversations that would not be accepted in the typical work environment. Just the way that we talk about things, how we talk and joke about each other. But it is all in fun. We know how to have a good time and how to be serious and excellent at what we do for the business. Even some of the conversations that we have with patients are just out of this world. This all takes place in a Dental Office. I myself am the Manager. Besides all the fun, we do have our hard times. Our debates and arguements, that would make you say, "OMG, I can't believe he still has his job!". Yes, it can get pretty ugly. And I myself, can be pretty out there. And just some of the lil comments that we all make to each other, are completely out of this world! Which makes this an awesome place to work. Having a boss, who is just hilarious and the Drama Queen of the office. Paired with us 3 young, out-going employees can be a crazy match. Our lives will surely bring lots of laughs and "Oh my's" to the television viewers. Stay tuned!

Our company is owned by a husband and wife team.  They hired their daughter as the office manager and their son runs all of our errands and does all of our tasks around the office.  Of course if something is missed, it's not the fault of the child, it has to be someone elses fault.  As if that is not bad enough, we have two divisions in our office.  One focuses on sales and the other on rentals.  Since we can not seem to keep anyone in the rental office, they are always dishing out their jobs to others.  They never focus on customer service and are pretty much rude to anyone they come in contact with, including me even though I'm the admin for the sales side.  We have numerous complaints from owners and from tenants but the owners continue to ignore them.  So, thinking that they can get away with anything, they continue to get worse.  They are always yelling at others, gossiping, leaving work undone etc... I guess they think that if they let it build up enough, someone else will do it for them... and they usually do.  The owner tells me all the time to help them out so I get stuck with the dreadful job that no one else wants.  We have been through 2 admin in 6 months.  The new admin that we have hired actually asked me how to turn the computer on... The only thing she can do is answer phones.... so once again, all the tasks will be dealt out to others.  Every day brings something new.  I'm almost scared to see what will happen next.

"I tried to heat up a boiled egg in the microwave, and it exploded in my face and that is why I am late for school and smell bad", said a child during the visit to the school office.  Welcome to the office I work in as a Administrative Assistant  which would be better knows as the sitcom titled "10% of the Population High, High School."

All day long, funny but true comments are constantly said and I cover my hands with my mouth because it is such a funny environment.  Cast of characters include: 1 Timid headmaster who lets the rich run over them. 2 Well to do parents without a care in the world. 3 Faculty that is out of touch with reality because their end of year gifts and Christmas presents consist of trips to exotic locations. 4 The receptionist from Venus who loves all the fathers and none of the mothers whose children attend the school. 5 Lastly, there is my character, the educated administrative assistant from the 'hood. What a great ensemble we make!

Just when you think that this cast of characters are what fully make the show, you would then have to add the movie stars and former students of "10% of the Population High, High School," to see the lasting effects of living and working in this environment.

 Do not forget to tune in next episode for Grandparents Day!

Hi: Yes, my job is like a Sitcom.  Since I work at a realty company in the Metro-Washington, D.C. area, with crazy antics in our office, I often tell them that I am going to write a book entitled "Realtor or REALITY?"  When I first came to this office almost seven years ago, it's been the admins vs. the realtor agents.  We are told by some that they are the ones who pay our salaries, so it's like walking on a tightrope or on eggshells no matter how challenging they get.  Since I sit at the Front Desk, I am often the recipient, not by choice, of personal issues, client issues, etc.  Sometimes I cringe within at the sight of certain people when they enter the building and that is not healthy for me.  The admins in our office try to maintain a nice environment, since we are fortunate enough to work in a nicely renovated historical farm house.  Sometimes weird supplies disappear, for example, honey container bears, creamers, office supplies, and even my floor heater, where the supplies have just been replenished.  Sometimes they already have issues and bring their attitudes to us and when we don't give them the answer they desire, well they call or email the higher-ups.  I have had people literally standing up over me screaming while I had 5 mental tasks from other agents ahead of them.  I hadn't done anything to provoke this, but the present phrase "a sign of the times" immediately prevails.  We are told to accommodate the Agents because they are stressed and out on the front lines (sounds like war to me), but it's not like we don't have some personal issues of our own.  I leave my personal issues at home.  If you own up to everybody's issues, this creates more hostility.  We have whiners who remind me of the Whiners on Saturday Night Live, with the nasal tones and everything.  I like what I do, but sometimes I feel like a hamster on an eternal treadmill.

We sometimes have food disappear from the refrigerator, and nobody knows what happened to it!  Items disappear from desks.  I email the staff and things are mysteriously returned.  With the current real estate market slowdown, I guess they need something else to fill in the gray areas.  Sometimes I feel like Dear Abby because they have the need to tell me EVERYTHING!

Agents from other offices have the right to come in, use the computers and other services.  Some announce themselves as if they were royalty or heads of state and think you are immediately supposed to jump to attention.  I usually treat everyone, agents or clients the same because I had been told that I had favorites.  This is true, you are usually drawn to people who are kind, respectful and considerate, for the rest, well you know where that is going.  I still do my job, no matter what.  When you are representing the tradition or name of your company, you don't want to be unprofessional or demeaning.  END RESULT: Come on over to my office and list or buy a house from us!

Daphne

Job Like a Sitcom, you ask.....I am an assistant director for a food service that requires associates to be able to sign their applications and walk around repeating "Where am I?" " Why am I here?"  and "Is it Friday yet?"  We take them under our wing and train them to understand and complete tasks at hand and each day they understand more and more of what needs to be completed at a given time.  THEN comes FRIDAY and the weekend begins and everyone leaves, unfortunately when they leave they have left behind everything we have taught them throughout the week..  Our Director believes we are trying to kill him when we express our feelings about our associates so  the other assistant directors and myself keep an open line of communication going so we don't lose our minds..  When you get an associate that comprehends and retains what you have taught them they leave because they can't deal with the long term offenders..  I believe our next string of associates will come from the prison work release program..  Our associates include the bobble heads who shake their heads yes to everything you have said to them, unfortunately when they walk away they have no clue what you have just said to them, then you have the dictators who believe they know exactly what they are doing and exactly how to do it, you know what happens there and finally you have the actual workers that come in and do know what needs to be done, finishes the task and completes what everyone else was not capable of completing..  At the end of the day there are a million stories in these buildings and no one would believe any of them because we live the stories and we can't believe them ourselves.