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Updated: Sep 19, 2020 77 Comments · by

Coffee Break: James Oxford

Coffee Break

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Sales of note for 9.30.24

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Comments

  1. Candidate

    Two quick resume questions. First, what goes at the top? Ask A Manager says a summary, but both people I asked to proofread asked if I should put “objectives” instead. Which is more current?

    Second, I’m currently serving in elected office (it’s part-time, evening meetings), so included that under my work experience. Would you include being elected in the first place as an accomplishment? Also if anyone in government has language/phrasing suggestions about influencing policy or getting projects into the planning phase I would really appreciate it. (E.g. I have two construction projects that will be done this year, we are just waiting on construction season to actually start them. Both are being done in-house by municipal employees, so I can’t say something like “out to bid” to show concrete progress).

    • CountC

      I think it depends on your field. I am law and law adjacent and have never put a summary or objectives section at the top of my resume. In law, I don’t think they are worth the space they take up, but I fully realize other fields are different!

      • Candidate

        I am not in law! I’ve talked to people in my field and gotten mixed answers. We are consulting-adjacent, mostly doing market research & forecasting.

      • Anon Architect

        Also, if you had anything to do with any sort of regulatory process, you should mention it. So, something like “Built stakeholder consensus for zoning override process, approval granted (month, year). Construction kickoff anticipated (month, year).”

        Also also, I have these shoes and they are great!

    • Leah

      I do a hybrid of both, included in a header so I don’t actually have to label it as any one thing. Something like “Experienced dog trainer with Great Dane background, seeking a highly collaborative and flea-free environment.” only, you know, relevant to your field.

    • Hiring Manager

      I’d go with Ask a Manager. Objectives are outdated and frankly (as a hiring manager) I know that you are looking for a job and I know that you (everyone) thinks that they are collaborative, customer-focused. Tell me in your summary about your skills (but not bulleted, give me a sentence) and then back that up with accomplishments in your bullets for each role.

  2. USA Jobs

    For those of you familiar with USA Jobs, can you shed a little light here? I have a contact who is hiring at her government agency and wants to bring me on board. She has told me that the job posting will go live on USA Jobs at a specific time on a specific date, and that I need to have everything ready to apply right then and there. First, what materials do USA Jobs postings typically require – anything beyond a cover letter and a resume? Second, do I really have to apply the minute it’s posted/why the rush? Thanks in advance!

    • Anon

      Why don’t you ask your contact? These seem like reasonable questions for her if she’s told you to have everything ready and apply ASAP.

    • anon a mouse

      She wants to make sure you are in the candidate pool! Some postings are limited to a number of applicants (25 or 50) so it really does make sense to apply as soon as possible. Others are only open for a short amount of time (I think the minimum is 5 days) to limit applicants.

      You can go ahead and upload/build your resume in USAJobs and upload a cover letter, so that it’s only a matter of a few clicks to actually apply when the posting goes live.

    • Anon

      Usajobs resumes are not like normal resumes- they are about 100x longer and more detailed (so definitely talk over it with your contact). If your contact can send you the description, basically copy it over as closely as possible adding specific experiences that relate. It usually has to get through a neutral 3rd party company that reviews the resumes for the most relevant experience before it will be viewed by your contact.

      • dc anon

        This has changed – resumes should not be longer than 5 pages. The job announcement should detail the requirements. I have heard of announcements that only stay open for a few hours, but those are pretty rare. I would check with your contact.

      • Anon

        I have heard from multiple people that the USAjobs resume builder format is horrible and hard to read. I would recommend loading a pdf, not using their resume builder

    • Anon

      Are you an attorney? Government hiring for attorneys is pretty different from that for non-attorneys, given that attorney positions are exempt from some government regulations (eg, there isn’t a formal set vet preference for attorney positions).

      The standard items for a government position are a resume and cover letter. However, the description may have some information that must be included in the resume – I’ve seen many positions that require info re number of hours worked and salary for each position, for example. Or they may also ask for additional documents. I’ve had to submit transcripts and bar admission certificates. Make sure that you satisfy all requirements about required info/docs. You can’t be referred to the hiring manager, and can’t be hired, if your application is incomplete.

      Some positions may be limited to a set number of applicants, but the lowest I’ve seen as 200. But that may be different for other fields, since I only look at legal jobs. Similarly, a position may only be open for a limited amount of time. The shortest I’ve seen is 5 days.

    • Drago Cucina

      You should have everything fully loaded into the system and then when you apply you choose all your relevant pieces. You may need unofficial transcripts. It takes a while to work through the system so I wouldn’t wait for the position to open.

  3. Anon

    For those of you who take antidepressants and have dealt with the “poop out,” do you eventually find a drug that works for you long-term or do you have to keep playing prescription musical chairs forever? I seem to be able to get about 15 months out of a drug before it stops working for me. The fall-off and the transition are zero fun and I’m wondering if I’ll have to deal with this forever.

    In the alternative, any experience with Trintellix? It sounds great.

    • Anonymous

      I’m sorry you are dealing with this – sound rough. This isn’t the exact same situation but FWIW – I took Paxil for 5+ years before I had a recurrence of depression (while still taking it). After trying something else that didn’t work for approx 6-8 weeks I went back on Paxil, and it worked. So maybe re-trying a medicine that worked in the past would be something to discuss with your doctor? And/or, adding a different class of med, like Wellbutrin if you are on SSRIs? (I’m guessing you know more about this than me, so sorry if this isn’t helpful). Also FWIW, I eventually stopped taking Paxil and was depression-free for a while – 5 years or so? – before I decided I was slipping and took Zoloft for a couple years. I’ve been off meds for several years now and am doing okay. I will start taking it again though if I need to; I have sexual side effects that make it less desirable when I can avoid taking it. Anyway, especially if you are young, take heart that this may not be something you have to deal with all your life. Best of luck!

  4. Parking lot drama

    Just got back from running to the store with my kid. We parked the car in a space up near the front of the store with nobody on either side of us. I parked squarely in the middle of the spot in my mid-size SUV.

    When we got back, a car had parked on one side- my daughter’s side. Daughter opened the door to get in and her door bumped the car next door and left a scuff (not a ding or scratch). The woman was inside and was super upset and went on about how she goes out of her way to park so nobody scratches her car (uh…this was the spot in the front between me and the grocery carts??). I apologized (as did my 6 year old, who wasn’t being flippant and the other car parked *so close* to the line!) and did my best to de-scuff the car. She stared at me like she expected me to offer her money or something- and I just apologized again and got in my car (super slowly so she could say something if she wanted to).

    My question here is, what’s the strictly right thing to have done? She parked too close to my car (and my car was perfectly straight) and the car door couldn’t open enough for my (very narrow) kid to get in. If I’d seen, I’d of course have asked her to move but I didn’t and 99% of the time cars are empty.

    Because my car was the one being opened and that made the mark, should I have offered to get her car fixed? Is it one of those things that happens in parking lots?

    If I’d taken a chunk out of her door panel from opening my door too fast or whatever it seems more clearly my fault.

    And since this is a scuff that was able to be removed, it’s a non-issue here but…what if it hadn’t been? My car has been bumped like this before and while I’ve been super annoyed, I’ve never viewed it as a “hot and run” sort of thing where the other driver should have left their insurance info.

    • Anon

      I once opened my car door and it bumped into someone else’s car and he started screaming “F&CK YOU!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” in front of my young child. I just got in my car and drove away. I’m not generally of the mind that this is something you need to compensate someone for, but I realize that other people care a lot more about their cars than I do. If someone politely told me their car was damaged (and I could see some evidence of damage) I’d be willing to have a calm conversation about it and maybe give them some money. But I don’t like people who immediately get angry about what is clearly a mistake, and I leave before they can escalate it further.

    • Anonymous

      Your car nicked hers and made a mark. You should have offered to fix it. End of story.

      Next time they are parked too close, may be wise to either help your child or enter through another door. Sucks? Absolutely. Should she have parked better. Absolutely. But your car did the damage (and not your call to determine where the line between “scuff” and “chunk” is).

      • anon

        “And since this is a scuff that was able to be removed”

        Read. You people are nuts.

    • Anon

      I’ve been inside my car when someone opened the door so hard that it shook my car. the people just got out of their car and walked away. You are fine, don’t worry about it. If it is a scuff, there are no damages because there is nothing to fix. A full dent would be something else.

    • Anon

      I consider door dings an expected part of life. Obviously you shouldn’t go around smashing your door into other people’s cars, but they are usually truly accidents, as you describe, not something to get bent out of shape over. I think you were perfectly polite in apologizing to the other woman and that she was ridiculous in her response.
      On a related note, I have a coworker who was so paranoid about anyone touching his car that he always parked in the very back of the parking lot, which is lined with pine trees. He made a point to explain to everyone that his was because of how very fancy and expensive paint job on his car was and would freak out if anyone parked hear him. Last summer, a tree branch fell and smashed his hood during a thunderstorm. Nobody else parked near the trees, so his was the only car damaged. Since then, he’s shut up about where he parks.

      • K

        LOL my boyfriend AND my father do that. Park as far from other cars as possible. God forbid someone else be near their precious car.

        • Ellen

          Yes, but you have a choice. You do not have to date your boyfriend if he gets to possesive about his car. Remember that men who are paraniod over their cars are often paranoid over their girlfreinds, and if he sees you talking to other men, watch out! They get very jelous, even if there is nothing going on. FOOEY!

    • Anonymous

      Your kid is 1000% in the wrong here — just in case there’s any debate. Doesn’t matter if she caused damage or not, she shouldn’t have touched anyone’s car for any reason. If there wasn’t enough space for her to get in, she shouldn’t have tried — she should have told you and asked you to handle it, whether by moving the car, letting her get in thru a different door etc; I’d make sure she is told this clearly. Since this woman was sitting in her car, I’d err on the side of assuming she got your license plate number and could make a claim to her insurance co. She likely won’t, there isn’t damage to fix etc. BUT she COULD treat it as a hit/run kind of thing. What you do? Not sure. Sit and wait? Call your insurer and give them a heads up?

      • Anon

        “Your kid is 1000% in the wrong here — just in case there’s any debate. Doesn’t matter if she caused damage or not, she shouldn’t have touched anyone’s car for any reason”
        This seems extremely dramatic. She didn’t intentionally touch this person’s car. You’ve never tried to open a door and had it swing open with more force than you expected and bump into something? Everyone I know does this on occasion, and it’s been done to my car by others plenty of times too. From your pearl-clutchy tone, you’d think OP’s kid intentionally keyed someone’s car.

      • Anon

        Get a grip. This response is crazy on steroids.

        It is the job of the person parking their car to ensure that occupants of the adjacent cars are able to exit and enter their vehicles. It’s not the job of a skinny six year old to talk to Mommy because someone might get a microscopic mark on their car that wipes off.

        • Anonymous

          Yeah it absolutely is the job of a child to ask their parent for help if they can’t get into the car without damaging someone else’s car. And it’s also the parent’s job to take a quick look to make sure kid can comfortably get in the car without hitting the adjacent car. But we’re all human and our attention lapses and that’s what insurance is for. If your kid opens their door onto someone’s car then you should teach the kid to leave a note because that’s what responsible law abiding people do – if you damage someone’s property then you offer to make amends.

          • anon

            You’re being deliberately obtuse. Do you think the kid knew she would hit the car door, but she’s simply too poorly behaved to have asked her mommy for help? She’s 6! Of course her attention “lapsed!” If she killed a person she wouldn’t be legally responsible for her actions because she’s 6! You’re so hung up on damage but it doesn’t sound like there really was any damage her. If she smashed the rear view window, totally. If there was a big ding, sure. OP said it was a scuff, “not a ding or a scratch.” God you sound like a total nightmare.

          • Anon

            Insurance claim for what??? What insurance company would even pay that out? What are the damages? Have you heard of a deductible?

      • anon

        Found the other driver!

        Dude, her kid is 6. You need to get a grip.

        “BUT she COULD treat it as a hit/run kind of thing.”

        LOL I’d love to read that police report. Or that insurance claim.

        • Anon

          Haha right, if the police would even bother. Where I live the police are occupied with much more important things.

      • busybee

        lol wut? no. OP, if your kid accidentally touched my car the way it sounds like your kid did, I’d have zero problem with it. I’d probably apologize for parking too close to the line. Anon at 3:52 needs to chill.

      • Anon

        There have literally been times where I wouldn’t have been able to get in any of my car’s doors under your crazy rule. What, I’m just suppose to wait till someone comes back because they all parked too close to me??? You assume some risks by living in society, including that your car may get damaged by someone opening their door.

      • Anonymous

        I live in LA, and a good majority of our parking garages have really tight spaces. Even if you both park straight and in the middle, doors will touch other cars. If another car is to the side, they 100% get touched. This is a fact of life in some areas. Making a deal out of it would be a huge overreaction.

    • Anon

      I mean she could have asked for your insurance and didn’t, so whatevs. I’m pregnant and wish spots were 50% bigger because even if people park well, I sometimes just don’t fit into that space!
      Fwiw when people have love tapped me as long as there’s no major damage I’ve just let it go- but I think it’s up to the damagee, not damager to decide.

    • Anon

      There’s no damage, and if you don’t want your car to be bumped by other people’s doors, then do a better job parking or park where there aren’t other cars around.

    • Anonymous

      Strictly the right thing to do – exchange insurance information and let the insurance companies deal with it.

      What most people do if they’re being decent – exchange contact information and offer to cover the cost of repairs. Heck I would say even if the person wasn’t there, you should leave a note on their windshield explaining what happened. Take a picture of the damage for your records.

      What most people actually do – exactly what you did.

    • Chi Squared

      I am into cars, and protective of my cars. Even so, I think I would have let it go after a sincere apology, especially if a young child did it accidentally. If an adult had done it, maybe I would be less forgiving. But door dings, scratches, and scuffs are normal wear and tear. Frustrating, yes, but absolutely to be expected. A minor scuff that you were able to buff out with your sleeve – there was nothing to repair. The strict right thing to do would have been to have your daughter climb in from the other side of the car, but only in hindsight. You could have taken a picture of the cleaned up scuff for proof if you were concerned, maybe?

    • Anon

      You move on with your life and let it go, and teach your daughter that sometimes there are uncomfortable and unpleasant interactions in life.

    • RR

      I think strictly speaking, you should have offered her your insurance information, but I wouldn’t worry about it since she had a chance to say something.

      I will say that this is why I still open my kids’ doors (and the older two are 11) if we are at all close to another car. Not that I think you were wrong, but I don’t want any question about whether my kid hit someone’s car.

      Recently, someone left a note on my car because their kid lost control of the door in the wind and it left a decent-sized dent in my door. I thought it was super classy that they left a note, but I contacted them and told them not to worry about it. My car is 10 years old with almost 200,000 miles. It’s more of a pain for me to fix it. But, if my car had been new, I absolutely would have had her insurance fix it, not because I think she’s a bad person, but that’s how insurance works. Accidents happen. Insurance should pay (at the discretion of the owner of the damaged vehicle).

      • Anon

        Why would you leave your insurance information in this situation? There was no damage to the car. My read of this situation is that the woman whose car got smudged was looking for something. She probably would have called the insurance company and complained about some damage that never even happened to get a new door.. then you’re stuck in the situation of trying to say that you didn’t cause damage to the car but were just “being nice” when you gave her your contact/insurance info when no damage occurred, which isn’t super credible. I just envision you getting stuck in some lawsuit where someone is trying to show you damaged the door of their car and using the fact that you apologized/gave insurance info to prove it.

        • Anonymous

          “Because my car was the one being opened and that made the mark, should I have offered to get her car fixed?” Yes. If it’s not any real damage then there is nothing to fix, so nothing to lose in exchanging info (which it sounds like she expected), right? If there is damage and you walked off, you run the risk of the person reporting your license plate. And the insurance company will go after you. And it’s just not a decent way to be to someone else’s property. It’s not on you to decide how what is reasonable level of damage.

          I also don’t understand all the talk about it being an accident vs. intentional. People should be decent to each other no matter what–she had no business acting rude. But you can also back into a car by accident, and I don’t think that makes it any less need to make amends with the person whose car gets damaged.

  5. VAnon

    Can anyone speak to their experience about going through the process of getting an advanced degree, working in a fancy corporate/legal job, and then deciding to give it all up and move to a small town with less opportunity to be near family? I’m struggling hard with this decision. My husband and I want to start a family soon and I’d like to be near our families when we do, but that is 3 hours from the nearest big city and while there are career opportunities, they aren’t at the same level I could find in my current location. I’m also tired of the long hours and travel and stress that comes along with my job, but I worry about giving up the big paycheck and benefits.

    I know I’m all over the place here, but any personal stories / advice / commiseration would be appreciated.

    • Anonymous

      Post this on the m*ms site tomorrow – many people will have gone through the same calculus and made a variety of decisions!

    • Anon

      1. See what opportunities are out there. I have no idea where you’re located, but have been surprised in my career at the number of lucrative (NOT biglaw, necessarily, but comparatively in the region) legal opportunities. Family owned businesses are spending less on outside counsel and hiring more inside counsel. I live in a flyover state that is not nationally known for having a hotbed of commercial activity, but there are small towns that have surprising business operations. You may need to be a GC – broader than your past experience or specialize more narrowly in a different industry, but you can do it! Also, more and more companies have compliance or CCO type positions that welcome someone with a corporate/legal job – contracting for a while or consulting is nothing to be ashamed of.
      2. Tele-commuting has saved some of my friends who want the job in a larger city (aka 3 hrs away) and the family (small town). A work arrangement I’ve seen is live in the town full time for 2-3 months so you can meet everyone and set up an office, then start going in 2-3 days a week, then …whatever. You probably need to over do it on the availability while you’re out so they can trust you, at least at first.
      3. I know women who have done this and are so happy they did – seemed more like a shift and change rather than a loss. I know women who have done this and are resentful – giving it up, in the long run, caused a lot of shame or personal regret over losing out on the paths their friends or former colleagues had.
      4. Whatever you decide to do, i hope its right for you! If you don’t love your current job, are tired of long hours and stress, and want a family, I 100% believe you can make it work in a smaller town or different job.

    • Anon

      YUP.

      The entire time I was growing up, I wanted to go do X in a big fancy city. Throughout my early working years, I wasn’t able to do X in a big fancy city and I was constantly chomping at the bit to achieve more. Now I’m doing X in a big fancy city. And around last summer (after 18 months of X and 3 years in big fancy city), things kinda turned into a grind. I miss being able to easily run errands (hello, traffic). I miss plentiful parking. I miss like crazy getting home from the office before 7:00. I miss people who work to live instead of live to work. I miss hanging out. (And while I’m missing things, I miss spacious bathrooms and walk-in closets, too.)

      But if you had told me 5 years ago that I would ever reach this point, I’d never have believed you. But now that I have had a chance to do X, I feel satisfied – I’ve checked that box and can move on to other things in life. I always wanted to do it and I’ve done it. When we get ready to move in 3 years, I can close the door on this chapter of my life and feel good about it. I’ll have done the things I wanted to.

      So my advice to you is not to cut yourself short just yet. You don’t have to move yet. There’s not a baby here now. And maybe you’ll be one of those people who decides to raise one kid in the city but when #2 comes along, then you decide you’ve had enough. So for right now, take life as it comes. You’re not ready to leave your job yet, so don’t. Wait until you’re ready to and give yourself time to feel complete and satisfied with your life’s chapters.

    • ANP

      So…I am you (sort of). I lived in a big city after college, grew up mostly in a city, and consider/ed myself a City Person. Then I fell in love with and got engaged to a Small Town Person. Our intended compromise was to move to a midsize city close to his family/his Small Town…but through a series of events we’ve put down roots in the Small Town. I’ve lived here for 11 years now, and if you’d told 22 year old me that this was how the story would go I’d have laughed you out of the room!

      My career is SUPER important to me, and the unexpected benefit of living where I do is that I’m a huge fish in a tiny pond. I’ve been fortunate enough to get two jobs in this Small Town, both light years ahead of where I’d be, professionally, in a big city. It’s crazy, but life has actually worked out for me in a way that I couldn’t have imagined at 22. I’m happy living here, my kids are happy, and I have an amazing job I love. We prioritize travel so that we can see/do/experience city things, and it works for us.

      TL;DR — it could be a great thing for your career to move — and also, you don’t have to do it yet! Your story might write itself in ways that you can’t yet imagine, and while that’s scary it’s also totally ok.

    • Anonymous

      Honestly, I would wait until you have a family to make this decision. I liked early motherhood a lot less than I thought I would. It is hard to predict how you will feel (or maybe I am just not very self aware?). I think it can also be hard to predict how well your family will do with your kid(s) and whether you will really want them close by.

    • Anon

      Sort of, although in my case it was for my husband’s job as well as to be nearer family (we’re still not super near our parents though). I was in Big Law in a big city and I tried small law – the biggest firm in my new town had 20 attorneys – and it was a disaster. I missed the structure and training of Big Law, I missed being a subject matter expert and hated having to work on all kinds of matters, I hated that I was supposed to chat up my dentist and convince him to take his business to my firm (yes, this is a thing that happens in small towns) and I hated working for individual clients who had no knowledge of the law instead of sophistacted in-house counsel. That doesn’t mean small law is bad, but it definitely wasn’t for me. In the end, I ended up leaving law completely. I have a second career I enjoy (nowhere near as lucrative, but I can pay my bills) and am generally happy, but I also think I’d still be practicing law if I were in my old city. You may not be a lawyer, but there are lots of careers that just don’t exist or don’t exist in the same form in small towns, so I’d think about whether you’re ok with a career change if you don’t like the small scale version of your current career.

  6. Anonymous

    I’ve put a lot of effort into organizing a panel for an upcoming conference. This presentation is a big deal for me – I’ve put a lot of work into pitching the proposal, finding great panelists, and drafting the discussion topics and other content, including an interactive portion. I’ve told my office that I will be presenting and encouraged everyone to sign up for the conference as soon as registration opens. The registration form was released today… and my name was left off the portion discussing my panel (yes, my name is supposed to be listed). I contacted the conference organizers and they said “hopefully” it will get fixed in a few days. I’m so, so disappointed. I don’t know if there’s anything else I can do here?

    • Blueberries

      I think it’s ok to politely be a pain to the organizers. Assuming your contacts are administrative people (and not like big deal names in the field), I’d politely follow up daily until it’s fixed. I’d explain that you’ve shared with your network to register for this event and without your name, it’ll be confusing for them/embarrassing for you.

    • Anon

      Maybe ask them for an above and beyond – mistakes happen, but would they send out an email to all attendees with the updated agenda/materials? Something like that. I doubt they’ll give you attendees contact info but maybe they’ll throw in your business card with all event handouts, give you special recognition as an emcee/organizer, etc.

  7. The frenchie is my favorite kid

    I remember seeing this before but even a g**gle search isn’t helping much – what all inclusive resort do you recommend in Mexico (we’d be leaving from west coast so we’d prefer easy flight in)? We like decent to good food. We have an elementary schooler and tween.

    Honestly I prefer cruises for this type of being lazy/don’t plan much vacations but I have been overruled ;0

    • Chris on Long Island

      Finest Resort Playa Mujeres – it’s owned by the same company that owns Excellence and Beloved, and it is family friendly. I just spent a week there in January for a family reunion (all adults) and we upgraded to the Excellence Club, which is Adults Only and has a beach area, restaurant, pool areas that are adults-only. Most of the restaurants (there are about a dozen) allow kids and there is a kids club. We had a marvelous time. Most of the food was excellent and it was all fresh and plentiful.

  8. Hanging File Folder Headache

    I am a relatively new attorney at a firm (fairly senior – of counsel). Our office manager is giving me slack for wanting order these because “no one uses them.” Yet all of the drawers in my office are built to hold them and I would like to use them. Fwiw, He also gave me slack for wanting a bookcase “because everything is on the server,” and keeps wanting to remove a cabinet from my office because “it is unnecessary,” but I use it to store odd-shaped items from clients (physical samples etc.). It took me 2 months to get a bookcase, and during this time my hearing binders, etc. were just littered all over the floor.

    First of all, am I insane for wanting to organize loose papers I am currently working with in this manner? How else am I supposed to do this? They are currently in piles on the floor/on my desk. I feel dumb asking my colleagues if they use them, and honestly is this relevant if I want a simple office supply?

    Second of all, if I am not insane, do I push back and get him to order these and/or get my assistant involved, or should I just spend like 10 dollars on Amazon and order them myself to avoid the headache?

    Finally, good grief.

    • Equestrian Attorney

      The office manager at my old job had a bit of a tyrant complex and was constantly questioning everything we needed due to some vague “cost-cutting” policy (meaning summers would raid the storage room for school supplies and they wanted it to stop, which was fair). As in yes, I do in fact need 200 folders because there are 200 items on my closing agenda, and seriously why do I need to justify this in a firm that does transactional law.
      Ask your peers if they have had to deal with this or if it’s just because you’re new. At the risk of sounding like a twat, I ended having a conversion with my office manager along the lines of “SeniorPartner has made it very clear I need the ressources to do this properly and he will get involved if I can’t get them. I can’t do my job and constantly have to fight for basic office supplies”. Things got easier after that, but we were never the best of friends.
      Hanging folders sounds extremely standard in pretty much every corporate environment I have worked in.

      • Hanging File Folder Headache

        Yeah, this isn’t the only thing he has bothered me about, which is why I sort of don’t want to “cave.” But I may just buy some in the short term – I am very into organization and having my office be a disaster makes it hard for me to work as efficiently as I otherwise would.

        He has questioned many things I do, including why I printed a one-page color-coded chart on the color printer. I also had to fight with him to get him to send me case calendar for the entire course of the case instead of just for the next week, and demanded me explain why I wanted the entire calendar (uh, to plan my life and other matters?). He has also mansplained things to me, like how to use an electric stapler and a three-hole punch. We don’t spend like biglaw, but I have seen no indication that simple office supplies are out of reach. I like your idea of talking to people.

      • Anon

        I have found it easier in my environment sometimes to just buy the thing I want and turn in a receipt. I’ve gotten the “but no one uses that” response from time to time (which is silly–obviously I use them or I wouldn’t be asking), and once or twice had a receipt declined for reimbursement (usually it’s not worth their time to dispute it and I’m not buying expensive things–we’re talking pens), but overall, the stress is not worth fighting over it. I probably get the items cheaper on Amazon delivered straight to the office than whatever office supply catalog they use anyway. My favorite was the computer monitor. I bought a second monitor and video card, and they wouldn’t reimburse it “because if we did, everyone would want a second monitor.” Fine, whatever. Three years later, everyone has a second monitor. That the firm paid for. *shrug* It was $150 and tax deductible. Oh well. At least I got two monitors and didn’t have to write a memo about how I needed them.

  9. Irish Midori

    Is there a roundup of comfortable oxfords? I would like more of these. It’s not fair that men get to wear socks in the winter!

    I do love Franco Sarto oxfords for looks, but they are too pointy for my feet and hurt my toes. Every pair of oxfords I have bought has been frightfully uncomfortable, which is ridiculous because you can literally hide a tennis shoe in this style.

    • Mimi

      I second that request! Both flat- and heel-versions would be awesome. I just bought a pair of The Office of Angela Scott oxfords (Mr Evans) and they are quite lovely (and quite a splurge). Haven’t worn them yet because the weather has been terrible where I live, but I’m optimistic that they will be fairly comfortable once I break them in. The heel version (Miss Button Derby) is GORGEOUS but the leather is too stiff for my foot, sadly. I have a bunion so no shoe is ever 100% comfortable.

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