Tag Archive for 'Heroes'

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assistant catches boss embezzling

Published on March 19, 2009 in Assistants in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Hero alert! A lot of STA readers have reported that their boss is doing something illegal, but they’re either worried about being dragged into the mess or not being believed when they report it. However, one assistant was able to do the right thing – and help a lot of other people in the process. An unnamed assistant in England was the whistleblower who suspected Lynne Greenwood, director of a nonprofit organization, of embezzling money from the company. The assistant began to suspect that the company’s numbers were off. Turns out that Greenwood, 57, had become a compulsive shopper and was using the charity’s money to pay her credit card bills to the tune of almost £53,000 (roughly $73K). Greenwood has been ordered to pay back the money she stole and was sentenced to 11 months in prison.

Congratulations, assistant! I am hoping the reason your name has not been made public is because you are awesome and modest and want to go on with your life, not because the British press doesn’t want to acknowledge you.

new york times reports on tacky coworkers

Published on July 10, 2008 in Heroes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Today’s New York Times covers the real news–workplace etiquette. Hey, there’s a war going on and some kind of election thing going on, but I will always flip to the style section of the paper first, and they know it. And besides, if anyone knows how gross, rude, and inconsiderate coworkers can be, it’s an STA reader. From the boss who scratched his balls incessantly to the CEO who stole his employees’ Tupperware to the coworker who didn’t grasp the art of cell phone etiquette, this site has varieties of bad job behavior pretty much covered. However, I’d like to share this excerpt from the article, where I basically agree with every single thing the writer says:

Continue reading ‘new york times reports on tacky coworkers’

get help planning happy hour

Published on May 23, 2008 in Junk Drawer. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

It’s the Friday before a holiday weekend, so naturally all I can think about is when I get to bail from the office and have a beer. That’s why my new favorite website is BeerMenus.com. The website lets me go through the beer list at places near my office so I can already decide what I want and find a place my picky coworkers will be cool with. I mean, to be honest, I’m a Bud Light kind of girl, but other people keep telling me they have standards or whatever. Right now, BeerMenus only serves the New York City area, but those of you in other locales should check in periodically for updates.

lisa simpson joins the assistant class

Published on May 21, 2008 in Fictional Assistants and Guest Post. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Many thanks to STA friend John of My Reviews for giving me a heads up about a recent episode of The Simpsons where Lisa becomes Krusty’s assistant. Since Lisa was a feminist hero to my eight-year-old self, it makes me happy to hear she’s still kicking butt despite the fact I haven’t seen a new episode of the show in years. John gives us his synopsis:

We wouldn’t blame you if you stopped watching “The Simpsons” 8 years ago, when it had passed its “Planet of the Apes: The Musical” prime and began its decline into 5 minutes of vaguely funny non sequiturs and random Lenny jokes stretched out into 22 minutes of preposterous and tenuous storylines.

Which is to say, you probably missed this week’s episode “All About Lisa”, where, through a series of unlikely events, Krusty hires Lisa to be his (unpaid) assistant, after Lisa informs crusty that The Discovery Channel is run entirely by interns and doesn’t have a single paid employee. [Editor's Note: I'm pretty sure this is true.]

Krusty, true to form, instantly turns into the boss from hell, requiring her assistance when he gets pastrami stuck in her teeth, instructing her to pay attention when he tells Nelson “I’ll trash you in my memoirs” (since she’ll be writing his memoirs), and making loud, ambiguously-phrased, demands that she do all his errands  (“Now go get me my dry-cleaning, which is my code word for ‘Scotch’. And get me my Scotch, which is my code word for ‘my bookie’.  And also, go get my dry cleaning!”)

The good news is that Lisa eventually works her way to the top, rendering her abusive boss obsolete in the process.

My favorite line: “What are you standing around for? I wish I was paying you so I could dock your salary!”

assistant marries into royalty

Published on May 19, 2008 in Assistants in the News and Heroes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

We don’t know much about Autumn Kelly, but we like her already. The 30-year-old Canadian got married yesterday to Peter Phillips, oldest son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. He is a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and 11th in line to the British throne. However, it doesn’t seem like Autumn’s new status has changed her much. The McGill University alumna has worked as both a bartender and a model; currently, she is the personal assistant to British TV personality Michael Parkinson. She has reportedly said that she will not quit her job when she gets married “because we need both incomes.”

[Pictured: the happy couple.]

Wow…sensible, feminist, and not a famewhore? It sounds like we need to be friends with Autumn Kelly. Is she an influence on Princess Beatrice’s decision to spend some of her gap year working as an assistant?

meet america’s best workplace

Published on April 29, 2008 in Heroes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Gallup (the same people who do the Gallup poll) apparently gives out annual awards for great workplaces. And this year’s big winner is… Country Inns and Suites.

Since we hadn’t heard of them either, we did some searching around on their site. Here’s what we learned about them: their website is phenomenally boring. If you want to look into career opportunities, click here. Regardless, boring website or not, kudos on being crowned America’s Best Workplace.

dr. phil’s poor beleaguered production assistant

Published on April 15, 2008 in Assistants in the News and Heroes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

If you haven’t seen the video of several high school girls attacking and beating one of their classmates, well, you’re luckier than I am. (Note: I am not providing a YouTube link. You can find it yourself.)

Well, that bastion of pseudo-journalism and human representation of the death of our culture, “Dr.” Phil, paid to get one of the girls bailed out of jail. The bail for Mercades Nichols, 17, was $3,300, and her family apparently couldn’t afford to bail her out. “Dr.” Phil, who never misses an opportunity to get his name in the press, is believed to have made a deal where Mercades would appear on his show if he paid her bail. Luckily, the plan was foiled by the person sent with the bail money: a production assistant. TMZ.com refers to the PA, Boston University student Michael Wynne, as “an intern with a paycheck” (we’d like to add “and a college degree,” but whatever) and note that the PA’s disgust with his task and willingness to talk about it in the press are what exposed “Dr.” Phil’s plan.

For that, Michael Wynne, we salute you. Way to stand up for what you believe in and make it clear that you had been unfairly asked to do something way outside the boundaries of your job.

awesomest boss ever praises assistant in print

Published on April 11, 2008 in Heroes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

We came across an article today that floored us so much we barely had anything to say. It wasn’t about Naomi Campbell beating an assistant to death. It was about a boss who was actually awesome, and who showed respect to his assistant. Barry Dixon of Syracuse, NY-based Cadaret Grant & Co. Inc. actually wrote an open letter praising his assistant. He acknowledges all of the areas in which he’s lacking, which happen to be the same ones where his assistant, Pat Fowler, excels. We’ve excerpted some of this remarkable letter below:

Pat tracks dates that clients are due for a quarterly review, schedules the meetings and contacts them about forms they should bring to the meeting.

Clients trust her, too, and most often ask to speak with her, not me, about everyday account questions. They trust that she will find the answers they need.

Pat is driven. If she doesn’t understand a procedure or an investment vehicle, she educates herself about it, calling fund companies or researching the product online.

I have subscriptions to many industry publications, but they hit my desk a few weeks late, dog-eared and covered with Pat’s highlighter marks. Believe me, she can hold her own in any room filled with advisers.

For the full text, click here.

an assistant in the line of fire

Published on April 10, 2008 in Heroes and Horror Stories. 0 Comments Tags: , .

There are plenty of everyday dangers associated with being an assistant. Ducking whatever blunt object your boss throws at you, for example, or scalding yourself on hot coffee when you’re running to get the cup to your boss’ desk in the quickest time possible.

Lately, though, it seems like assistants have had even more to worry about. First, footballer Joey Barton’s assistant got attacked by a crazed fan who mistook the assistant for Barton. Now, STA reader Avia sends us this story from Israel. The assistant to Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter was injured by bullets shot by Palestinian sniper who was aiming for Dichter. Matii Gil, 30, was injured but is expected to make a full recovery. He also seems to be pretty badass. Gil was quoted at the hospital as saying, “There is no doubt that my life was saved. Whatever happens, I will overcome. I’m suffering from pain, but it will pass.”

I’m starting to think all assistants should demand hazard pay.

awesome boss alert: molly meldrum

Published on March 28, 2008 in Heroes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

We hadn’t heard of Australian “music guru” Molly Meldrum (below), but we’re all ready to declare him an awesome boss. Molly’s longtime personal assistant, Yael Cohn, recently gave birth to a son, Jacob. Not only is Molly totally cool with Yael bringing her baby to work, Molly joins in and helps care for the infant so Yael can get work done. Very few working mothers get opportunities even close to that one, and even fewer assistants. Kudos to Molly, Yael, and little Jacob for their role in reconfiguring the modern workplace.