• (cs)

    Good for Bobbie. Peter, too much like many folks for whom I've worked, should die, painfully.

  • (cs)

    This is the only WTF I can remember which has actually made me sad.

  • Keloran (unregistered)

    Sounds like one of my old bosses

  • (cs) in reply to Keloran
    Keloran:
    Sounds like one of my old bosses

    Sounds like (nearly) all my old bosses.

  • By-goat (unregistered)

    I love Minefield.

    it's kind of a big deal.

  • Mortal (unregistered)

    Is it me, or was this story told exclusively from Peter's point of view? I felt horrible for Bobbie. I came here expecting to be amused, and now I'm just sad. :(

  • thnurg (unregistered)

    Isn't this story just a verbose re-telling of a typical week of Dilbert strips but with none of the wry humour, and a happy ending?

  • Anonymous (unregistered)
    The Article:
    The resume was stellar, her references glowing

    Ah, I see the WTF here! What's that? Shut up, misogyny is funny. This is the internet right? Well then.

  • Someone who can't be bothered to login from work (unregistered)

    So...

    Bobbie: Competent, adaptable and possibly worth her weight in gold. Peter: Pitiful cock who needs to be fired - out of a canon - and not even worth his weight in shit.

  • Steve The Cynic (unregistered)

    Peter sounds like a large-scale version of someone I had to work with a few years back. The event that took the place of the showdown meeting was a conference call between my office in a major European capital and the Peter-like person in a major North American city.

    In my location were me, a fellow team member, and a senior manager from the business side, visiting from the mNAc. In the mNAc were a number of people, including the Peter-like. When we were discussing a serious customer issue, the Peter-like directly and in so many words said that I had not answered emails that he and one of his main goons had sent to me about the issue. My reply was simply that I had received no such messages (quite true), and that I had answered a message received from one of the other guys in the mNAc. I had received it on my Blackberry at 8pm the previous night and answered it almost immediately while stood on a "windswept railway platform" (my exact words).

    Attempt at embarrassment in front of senior management: totally spiked.

  • Steve (unregistered)

    I like to root for the underdog so I'm just going to say WOOO PETER, GREAT VICTORY!

  • Annonymous (unregistered)

    I think it's sad, when I was managing an IT department, I desperately wanted those underneath me to excel beyond my own abilities, and not to sound cocky, but they didnt. I would have been happy to gloat to my boss(the CEO) about how amazing my employee was doing and how well they were understanding it, and it sadly never happened that way.

    It's almost like people like Peter create crappy programmers like I had to deal with, at least the good ones like Bobbie are still out there somewhere eligible for hire at a nice job where they can be appreciated

  • (cs)

    Is all the stuff from Peter's POV when Bobbie isn't in the room just made up? Or did Bobbie collaborate with her past employer and coworkers to come up with this story? It always smells of editorial overreach when the "narrator" is an omniscient observer. That doesn't happen in real life.

  • (cs) in reply to Markp
    Markp:
    Is all the stuff from Peter's POV when Bobbie isn't in the room just made up? Or did Bobbie collaborate with her past employer and coworkers to come up with this story? It always smells of editorial overreach when the "narrator" is an omniscient observer. That doesn't happen in real life.

    Unless, in a break of the custom to boldify the submitter's name and against the norm of the WTFee, not the WTFer, submitting the story, was this actually written and submitted by Peter?

  • Craig (unregistered)

    I find it hard to believe that this story isn't a complete work of fiction. It's an amusing story, but no one individual could have so much insight into the various angles of this story.

  • highphilosopher (unregistered) in reply to Craig
    Craig:
    I find it hard to believe that this story isn't a complete work of fiction. It's an amusing story, but no one individual could have so much insight into the various angles of this story.

    Except for the all knowing junior developer. Make no mistake, they see all and hear all.

  • (cs) in reply to Markp
    Markp:
    Is all the stuff from Peter's POV when Bobbie isn't in the room just made up?... That doesn't happen in real life.

    The core set of events, specifically the hurdles set up to thwart Bobbie, came from the submitter. The goal isn't to just dryly report what the submitter sent in, but to flesh it out into an entertaining narrative.

    So, yes: artistic license was taken. It remains closer to reality than your average Hollywood biopic, so you can take solace in that.

  • (cs) in reply to highphilosopher
    highphilosopher:
    Craig:
    I find it hard to believe that this story isn't a complete work of fiction. It's an amusing story, but no one individual could have so much insight into the various angles of this story.

    Except for the all knowing junior developer. Make no mistake, they see all and hear all.

    And apparently know everything that Peter thinks and feels.

  • highphilosopher (unregistered) in reply to Markp
    Markp:
    highphilosopher:
    Craig:
    I find it hard to believe that this story isn't a complete work of fiction. It's an amusing story, but no one individual could have so much insight into the various angles of this story.

    Except for the all knowing junior developer. Make no mistake, they see all and hear all.

    And apparently know everything that Peter thinks and feels.

    I'm telling you, they're all knowing!!!!

    Captcha: bene -- Location previously visited (e.g. bene there done that.)

  • (cs)

    Wow. Scumbags like that Peter character deserve to lose their life savings and be begging for food and money on the street.

  • Kjartan (unregistered)

    Ok, now I must confess that I am not a boss and have no people working for me however, if I was I would consider being able to keep really brilliant people happy working in a group I managed a pretty good achivement.

    I know some really brilliant people and have worked with people who are quite a bit smarter than myself and not once in my dealings with smart people have I not been able to learn something that I probably would have taken a longer time figuring out on my own.

    So I had been in Peters shoes I would have been really happy to get a brilliant co-worker, but maybe that's just me.

  • (cs)

    This story has to be fake. Who's ever heard of a female developer? C'mon.

  • Drew (unregistered)

    TRWTF is the other three developers who had to continue to suffer under Peter.

  • gpb (unregistered)

    I guess Peter got to hang a 'Mission Accomplished' banner in his office too.

    captcha: laoreet

  • Bryan The K (unregistered)

    I come to this place to feel better about myself and laugh...not to feel down.

    Thanks guys

    CAPTCHA: genitus - I had a genitus defect that makes me allergic to red squiggly lines

  • Anonymous Coward (unregistered) in reply to Someone who can't be bothered to login from work

    Wait a minute. Shit is useful. It grows plants.

    Peter isn't even worth his weight in shit.

  • qvp (unregistered)

    Sounds like Bobbi Starr

  • (cs)

    This story reminds me I still need to call back the exit-interview guy from the job I just left. That call's going to start off something like "Let me save us both time and send you this four-page document, and then you can ask questions on anything I didn't already cover."

  • RBiter (unregistered) in reply to gpb

    [quote user="gpb"]I guess Peter got to hang a 'Mission Accomplished' banner in his office too.

    Next to the "Hope and Change" sign, I guess.

  • A Coo, Mind You; a Coo (unregistered)

    Peter, Bobbie and Jacob sound like the new Nobody, Somebody and Everybody.

    Is it April 1st again, or is TDWTF now publishing pretend posts promoting programming parables?

  • Bluesman (unregistered)

    Ah, little Bobbie Tables. I still remember when she went to school. My oh my, how time flies.

  • (cs)

    I spent way too long trying to figure out why this guy was still using a Newton PDA, and why its docking cradle was making clacking noises.

  • Iie (unregistered)

    The Daily What The Fiction

  • Anonymously Yours (unregistered)

    I'm a little put off by this article. I came here expecting some twisted, technology-related logic and all that was presented was a sabotaging, asshole manager playing office politics. It's not even IT-specific. This could have been any employee with any educational background getting shit projects from her manager. Shit, from the way Peter was written, he may as well have been wearing a top hat and twirling a mustache while he tied Bobbie to train tracks.

    I try not to complain about the articles here, but really, get off your soap box.

  • Anonymous Hero (unregistered) in reply to Iie
    Iie:
    The Daily What The Fiction

    Yeah. So this is a real story in what sense?

  • Condor (unregistered)

    I guess most of the people are right on the surface. However, I came across a very similar situation and felt a bit like Peter.

    Every once in a while an overqualified whiz kid ends up in our legacy application division. I know he will eventually get bored and quit. I know that upper management will never give him freedom to make radical changes which we desperately need. In fact, that's why management hired a couple of middle aged debt ridden engineers who prefer job security over radicalism.

    The first time I hired a Bobbie, I motivated him to think of change and try to convince upper management where I had failed. I was given specific instructions to "contain him". We tried gentle pressure, but that was totally ignored. Eventually he stagnated for 2 years before finally giving me the good news.

    After that experience I never hired a Bobbie again. I would conveniently overlook them. I still believe that I am doing them a favor.

  • IT Girl (unregistered)

    Here's the real WTF:

    "When Bobbie's first status report arrived in his inbox, he deleted it, unread. A few days later, he sent her a nasty note complaining that she hadn't turned it in on time, and BCCed Jacob. She sent again."

    If Bobbie was so brilliant, why would she not have had the sense to send messages to Peter with a Read Receipt on them? Don't even try to tell me that you didn't get my email.

  • wtf (unregistered)

    "Yeah. So this is a real story in what sense?"

    Wow. Ignorance really is bliss...

  • (cs) in reply to IT Girl
    IT Girl:
    Here's the real WTF:

    "When Bobbie's first status report arrived in his inbox, he deleted it, unread. A few days later, he sent her a nasty note complaining that she hadn't turned it in on time, and BCCed Jacob. She sent again."

    If Bobbie was so brilliant, why would she not have had the sense to send messages to Peter with a Read Receipt on them? Don't even try to tell me that you didn't get my email.

    Yeah, I'd send to Jacob, "here's the email I sent to Peter. Notice the timestamp?"

  • Krischan (unregistered) in reply to IT Girl

    Dear IT Girl, have you already heard of mail-programs that allow you to decide for each message if a "Read Receipt" should be sent back? If not: just google for them.

  • TheRealMe (unregistered)

    What I find interesting is that even though the article is obviously quite fictional, enough real-life anecdotes have come this way to suggest that the story has grains of truth in it.

    PS: for those of you telling us what your captchas are, you DO realize anyone programming a spambot would insert those into its dictionary, defeating the purpose of a captcha?

  • (cs) in reply to IT Girl
    IT Girl:
    Here's the real WTF:

    "When Bobbie's first status report arrived in his inbox, he deleted it, unread. A few days later, he sent her a nasty note complaining that she hadn't turned it in on time, and BCCed Jacob. She sent again."

    If Bobbie was so brilliant, why would she not have had the sense to send messages to Peter with a Read Receipt on them? Don't even try to tell me that you didn't get my email.

    What Peter doesn't realize is that Bobbie has been BCCing Jacob on her status reports ever since she smelled a rat...

  • (cs) in reply to Krischan
    Krischan:
    Dear IT Girl, have you already heard of mail-programs that allow you to decide for each message if a "Read Receipt" should be sent back? If not: just google for them.
    Not to mention mail-programs that don't send "read receipts" for unread mail.
  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to TheRealMe
    TheRealMe:
    PS: for those of you telling us what your captchas are, you DO realize anyone programming a spambot would insert those into its dictionary, defeating the purpose of a captcha?
    Why would they need to do that when the actual value of the captcha is embedded in its address (passed in on the query string: ...CaptchaImage.aspx?w=250&h=50&t=TSxOLEUsTyxDLA!)? Hope you're not thinking of branching out into spam-bot development any time soon, you'd clearly suck at it.
  • usitas (unregistered)

    I didn't have time to read the comments, but that story is clearly made up.

  • computerquip (unregistered)

    Bobby isn't too far from how she was described in the article. You just don't know the details of her. She says her code was good, her customers were satisfied, all of which were described in the article. How is she so much different of a person than what she described in the article and the comment?

  • St Mary's Repertorium for Frequently Used Letters (unregistered) in reply to A Coo, Mind You; a Coo
    A Coo:
    Is it April 1st again, or is TDWTF now publishing pretend posts promoting programming parables?

    Alliteration overflow.

  • RBoy (unregistered)

    And then what happened?

  • (cs) in reply to Remy Porter
    Remy Porter:
    Markp:
    Is all the stuff from Peter's POV when Bobbie isn't in the room just made up?... That doesn't happen in real life.

    The core set of events, specifically the hurdles set up to thwart Bobbie, came from the submitter. The goal isn't to just dryly report what the submitter sent in, but to flesh it out into an entertaining narrative.

    So, yes: artistic license was taken. It remains closer to reality than your average Hollywood biopic, so you can take solace in that.

    Artistic license is one thing, but a writer's bread and butter is the audience's willing suspension of disbeleif. When you make the story impossible to believe, it ceaces to be entertaining. Too bad, because I was enjoying most of your posts thus far.

    Protip: The Omniscent Narrator literary device is most effective when the narrator is established as reliable and unbiased. Otherwise, tell the story from the real POV and don't try to cement fantasies as fact.

  • Bobbie's Uncle (unregistered) in reply to Bluesman
    Bluesman:
    Ah, little Bobbie Tables. I still remember when she went to school. My oh my, how time flies.

    Little Bobbie Tables grew up so fast

Leave a comment on “Minefield”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

Log Out

« Return to Article