Ask Bing: The boss' son is lazy

I work for a very small company, where one of my co-workers is my boss' son. I've only been here for about four months, and in that time, the son has shown up at work maybe half the days. He took three weeks off to go for a sailing trip for example, and hasn't been in yet this week (today is Thursday) because he had an argument with his girlfriend.

When he does come into work he brings his dogs, even though we work in a laboratory, and then uses the dogs as an excuse to leave early. He never works more than a six hour day, and when he is here he spends most of his time on Skype and his new iPhone.

On top of all that, I know that he makes 33% more than I do. I want to tell his dad (my boss), "I work at least 40 hours a week, I'm here every day, and I'm productive, what the hell?"

Are you smoking something? This guy is going to be the head of the company one day. It has nothing to do with merit. It has to do with Dad. He's giving the kid "a taste of the business" before he ups him to vice president, then to executive vice president, then to COO and then, when Dad is ready, to the CEO of the whole thing.

Guess what he'll do then? Spend most of his time on Skype and his next-gen iPhone. Just do your job and work hard and get there the old fashioned way -- by being fantastic and noteworthy. Of course, he's doing things the old fashioned way too, but that's beside the point. And don't waste any energy being aggravated about this thing. You think George W. Bush is President right now because he was just the best man in the United States for the job?

I work in an office and at first it was great. There is a lady she is the HR person and she liked me at first. She was always really nice, but now she treats me badly, like I am beneath her. She is always trying to get me in trouble or complaining about something I do. The thing is she does the same things but never thinks the rules apply to her.

I am frustrated with this, but love my job. So what should I do? I have been nice and I have kept my distance from her, but nothing I do seems good enough for her. Thank you.

You're right. The same rules don't apply to her. She's a boss. And worse, she's in HR, where they can suspend any rules they want at will. I'm sorry you're not getting along with this woman. It's hard when somebody is out to get you.

Have you thought about sitting down with her and asking her what the problem is? She might tell you, and you could say, hey, that's something for me to think about, thanks, and then go away, and she would think "Wow, he's not that bad. He listened to me!" Maybe that would work.

The key phrase in your question is, "I love my job." In other words, in spite of the fact that you have an enemy close by, or at least a tormentor, you still love your job. That's huge. Do you know how many people use the L word when they talk about their employment? Not very many is the answer.