I *have* to be the problem, because I run into the same situations wherever I go. I think I come across in a way that I don't understand or intend. Like I either sound too abrupt or I try to be diplomatic and sound too uncertain? I am not sure.

I also stay upset about this kind of thing for way longer than I should. My day at work yesterday sort of ruined my whole evening.

The signs had to do with cardboard recycling. I had been placing boxes in piles next to the full cardboard recycling containers. An outside vendor was supposed to take care of it, but they were a week late with their pick up.

I noticed a few days after my biggest pile had been cleared that the containers themselves had been relabeled with big signs about putting cardboard boxes in the containers (which I couldn't do when they were full). A few hours later, those signs were gone.

Monday there was a new sign. ALL of the 50-60 gallon containers are now paper only (instead of one paper, two cardboard) and a small plastic tote (10 gallon?) was put out for cardboard recycling, with a sign that said that cardboard needed to be taken to the dumpster if the tote was full. The tote was overflowing and I had two large boxes.

The dumpster was across the parking lot in the middle of an unshoveled, unplowed area, surrounded by snow berms. I spent 20 minutes looking for someone who had a key to the dumpster and then carrying my boxes out there, one by one. I left the full plastic tote.

I wasn't really that happy about doing janitorial service and I was extremely annoyed that it was communicated to me via sign. Everyone in the office knew who was stacking up those boxes! I was not arbitrarily placing cardboard in this area - I was TOLD to. I had commented on the fact that the pile was substantial and had asked an admin to contact the service to schedule a pick up. If someone else was breaking down the boxes when they felt like it wasn't their job, they could have said something to me or to my boss.

Is there another way to look at this? To me, it just seems so passive aggressive and obnoxious. The signs involved clip art, were printed in color, all caps, and had typos.

It's too soon for me to tell whether this will be a pattern with my boss, but I would not be surprised if it turned out to be the case. *This* reminds me of how he interfered in the first project I did, arbitrarily changing my equipment list. On three separate occasions yesterday he interfered with extremely minor matters and had me redo work I had already done for no sensible reason at all.

This sort of reinforces my fears that I would be a monkey required to obey the instructions of a non-professional. He sometimes talks down his IT skills and sometimes talks them up. I still have not really figured out what the psychological deal is with him. He complains about having to deal with this stuff, but at the same time will not let me handle it.

My friend, my boss, and the owner were all meeting today to discuss the next steps for me, so I suppose I will hear more about that tomorrow. I half wonder if they will decide they don't want me there after all, now that the big work push is over. I may have hormonal sensitivities at the moment.

Why are companies so ineffective? How do they stay in business? I look at what your company is doing - giving you nothing to do and letting your boss talk about synergies and mismanage a team; not hiring replacement staff when multiple people are going on leave for a year. Why? Why not be efficient about these things?