I work with a Harbinger of Doom. She's the kind of person who can't wait to be the first one to spread the bad news. About anything. I remember one morning she zipped on up to where I was sitting with my coworker and described, in detail, the helmetless motorcycle crash our director of operations had been in the prior afternoon. She relished being the one to tell us all the gory details. My one and only question was, "Is he ok?". Once I heard that he was, I turned away and ignored the rest.

Our Harbinger of Doom is also someone who loves to tell other people when they are wrong. Over and over again. Finally, I got sick of being told 800 ways to do the same thing. So I approached the Harbinger and told her that I wanted to have a meeting with her, my coworker, and my manager so we could all be on the same page with our non-documented processes and procedures. Everyone was at the meeting except the Harbinger. Huh. I wonder why?

The Harbinger of Doom is also one who likes to screech, loudly, about how her bonus is being affected by inventory issues. Inventory issues that she (among 3 others) are directly responsible for. You see, the Harbinger likes to take cruises - cruises financed by the bonus that the company gives employees for meeting their goals. After a conversation about a very specific inventory problem, the Harbinger said "Well, this is affecting my bonus".

I had enough. I said, "To be perfectly honest, I don't give a crap about your bonus. Half of the people in this building will not get a bonus because they are temporary employees. Your constant harping about your bonus is, quite frankly, offensive and I don't want to hear about it any more."

The Harbinger of Doom no longer speaks to me, and for that I am heartily grateful.

For everyone who works for or with a Harbinger of Doom, this is your opportunity to vent  -  vociferously!!