Micromanager threatens employee if he sees him wearing headphones in the office again, so employee invests in invisible earbuds

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Nov 5, 2024 4:00 PM EST

Always be careful with the words you say at work, folks!

This micromanager was so annoyed by his employee wearing headphones in the office simply because he had to call his nice twice on one occasion. Talk about a power trip! In this day and age, nearly everyone wears headphones in offices to focus. Plus, the employee's line of work never involves serious or dangerous circumstances that would require him not to wear headphones. So when the boss told the employee he never wanted to see him wearing headphones again, the employee and his wife started to consider investing in invisible earbuds in order to maliciously comply with his boss's silly demands.

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from folks in the comments section. For more stories like this, check out this post about an employee who stopped coming into the office despite HR taking their sweet time to approve his work-from-home requests.

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  • 01
    INPUT
    via Apprehensive-Soup-73
  • 02
    Boss/Owner told my husband he can't wear his single earbud anymore because he had to say his name twice to get his attention.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 03
    It may have been inconvenient to someone who's incredibly impatient, but having to have your name called twice shouldn't merit losing a privilege that eases the suffering of work. The work doesn't
    via Just_A_RN
  • 04
    involve customers and it's not dangerous. There's just no valid reason for this other than the boss's perpetual power trip.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 05
    What I'm curious about is if anyone knows of a covert type of earbud that stays hidden in the ear canal? This might be
    via Just_A_RN
  • 06
    a million dollar idea for someone, because there's got to be a market for it (for those without the ability to cover their ears with hair). At this
    via Just_A_RN
  • 07
    point I'd pay a pretty penny for a decent "invisible" earbud. There are tons of them on eBay,
    via Just_A_RN
  • 08
    but there's also a mess of cheap fakes to w d through. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 09
    Acanthi... 9h ago • • Tell your husband to go no earbuds for a few weeks, but still don't respond to the boss right away.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 10
    Male him call him a few times, eventually tell the boss it had nothing to do with the earbuds and more to do with him concentrating on his work
    via Just_A_RN
  • 11
    . No_Wel... 9h ago • I'm a cleaner for our school district and we are allowed to wear one earbud. Your husband's boss is an a hole.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 12
    Get an over the counter hearing aid with bluetooth capability.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 13
    AVB • 9h ago Back in college I was working as a temporary janitor assistant cleaning up dorms during the summer recess. I
    via Just_A_RN
  • 14
    had a power tripping floor manager who got on me one time for listening to NPR quietly in a single earbud while I worked. Her excuse
    via Just_A_RN
  • 15
    was that I theoretically might miss being called to break because I wouldn't be able to hear her with that single earbud playing quietly in one ear.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 16
    That had never been an issue and it was not ever going to be an issue because who once to do extral janitorial work FFS
    via Just_A_RN
  • 17
    Anyway, I kept up wearing my covert earbud listening to NPR because there was no way I was going to work that job without something to numb
    via Just_A_RN
  • 18
    my mind. A week or two later she called me out about it again and wanted to write me up and I talked back and got fired.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 19
    I would absolutely change nothing if I had it all to do over again. F like that. bosses
    via Just_A_RN
  • 20
    Samuel... 9h ago • Quietly he should start polishing up ye olde resume and start looking for elsewhere.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 21
    Power tripping bosses/managers do not a good place to work make.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 22
    That said, it seems your husband, like me, can get really focussed on a task -
    via Just_A_RN
  • 23
    to the point someone needs to repeatedly say my name, loudly - to get my attention. And I do not have a radio, earbuds or whatever .. just Reddit.
    via Just_A_RN
  • 24
    So, see if a couple of days to 2 weeks - - - without earbud is an option - then follow u/Acanthisitta Glum6 977 s advice.
    via Just_A_RN

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work toxic-boss Horrible Bosses reddit thread Reddit company toxic-work-environment
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