You voted for your favorite crazy boss story, and the results are in. I created two identical polls, one on the Tech News blog roll and the other on the Geekend blog roll. When I added the total number of votes for both polls, two TechRepublic members tied for first place, and so they both will receive a (consolation) prize of a TechRepublic coffee mug with a coffee single — or hot chocolate or tea.  

Please join me in congratulating TechRepublic members sapri and maecuff. Thank you both for truly entertaining us with your crazy boss horror stories. I’ve included the stories below for anyone who may have missed the original entries.

sapri: “OK, about 8 years ago I worked for a woman who would call me to her office to write her personal adds on a SWINGERS web site. She would meet random men on the weekends and have sex with them. When she came back on Monday, she would spend half of the morning telling me about the sex they had. On one occasion, she was chatting with a man from California (I live in Indiana). He flew to Indiana on a friday morning. They had sex all day and then got in a big fight. My boss called me crying saying that they had been drinking and she needed me to come pick them up to take him to the bus station (which I did). On the way back from the bus station she informs me that she’s suicidal and wants to kill herself. I stayed with her until 9:00 p.m. until her mother came to relieve me. She actually has been hospitalized for being suicidal on 3 occasions since then. YIKES!”

maecuff: “My former boss was very much like the Rain Man. He could write code and his logic was flawless, but he had absolutely NO other skills. … He had a skin condition that resulted in small scabs all over his arms, he would repeatedly tell people not to worry, that it wasn’t contagious. And he licked them. All the time. There were a few occasions that just LOOKING at him almost made me vomit. He smelled like boiled cabbage. He had no concept of personal space and would stand nearly nose to nose with you while talking. He would stand behind me while I worked and his basketball shaped stomach would actually touch my back. When I told him he was too close, he got offended. … He alienated everyone at work with his thoroughly obnoxious personality. He was definitely a screamer. I don’t respond well to being yelled at and would just leave his office if he yelled at me. He’d get mad and not speak to me for days (and this was a punishment?) His boss called me one day and asked what I thought of him. I told him that I was actively looking for another job and that I wouldn’t work for this person ONE day more than I had to. He was fired within a month and I’ve had his job ever since.”