About nine months ago I left the Boss From Hell.  These are a few examples of what it is like to work for a psychopath.

Time

The BFH demanded we report at 8:30 a.m.

He had a lot of children for different women, and one of them had been put to live in the side office of the back building.   The 'child' was over forty years old. 

Originally all the child had to do was see that the office was unlocked by 8:30 and the staff; (4 of us) entered.  

Due to the fact he was as sick as his father his keys were taken away and the BFH was to unlock the doors.

This meant the staff would lounge on the pavement sometimes to 9:30.

When one entered the building there was often nothing to do.  This is because before the BFH would assign tasks he had to eat his breakfast.

So we'd sit at our posts waiting.

We were to leave at 4:30 p.m.  

He used to find many tasks to prevent our leaving, but those with sense figured out how to escape on time.

One morning, about 7 am,  while I was eating my breakfast I noticed my cell phone was flashing.  I took it up.

There were over a dozen calls made to my phone between 4:46 am and 5:30 am from the Boss From Hell. 

While I held it there was a vibration.

My cell phone is permanently on silent.  It never rings.  It vibrates, it flashes, but it doesn't ring.  

My cell phone sleeps at the farthest point from my bed.

When I answered I learned I was supposed to be ready now to go somewhere.  

As my usual leave home time is 8:00 I had no intention of changing it, so took my time and was ready at 8:00 to be driven by another of the BFH's sons to the farthest point from my city.

There had been no warning. 

Let me spend a little time on this.

A real person, a decent boss, would advise of coming movements.  This is due on the 15th, that is expected on Friday, etc.  One can made arrangements.

A Boss From Hell doesn't reveal anything until the last minute.  This is to throw the victim off balance, cause them to make mistakes.  This is to allow him feel better about himself.

To advise a member of staff as to a week's work is normal for normal people.  Most employees know what is coming up, what needs to be done, and can prepare.  A normal human being would do this..whether having weekly staff meetings, sending memos or simply advising what the coming week/day holds.

The Boss From Hell can never do this.  It would be like tipping his hand when playing cards.  It gives him enormous power to be able to 'spring' things on his employees.

Many BFH have serious issues that could keep a psychiatrist busy for years.  Many have inferiority complexes which they mask with superiority complexes.  Many will sabotage their own work so as to make an employee seem to fail.

The fact it can cost them thousands of dollars is not important.  To humiliate an employee, to make the employee feel small is worth the lost revenue.

To dial a phone at 4:46 am is something no sane person would do unless it was a total emergency.  Why call an employee at such a time?    

The reason the BFH would be awake at such time and make such a call has nothing to do with the work.  It has everything to do with the evil intention of a Boss From Hell.

To wake up an employee at such a time would have given the BFH an orgasm of galactic measure.  

The fact the phone wasn't answered caused him to call 12 times.  He could not imagine that his calls were not disturbing me.  

The insult he received when, sometime around 8 am he learned I kept my phone on silent made him speechless.  He could not believe that I coud deprive him of his evil pleasure.

There was no way he could demand I keep my phone on nor did I have any intention of doing so.  

The calls concerned an absolutely worthless journey across the island. It would cost him money, a lot of money.   But money is not really the goal of a BFH; torturing his employees is the key feature.

Understand, this long journey was absolutely pointless.

As I had no transportation it was decided that one of his other sons, the sensible one, would drive me across the island.  

The trip could take no less than three hours.

When I arrived, there was nothing to be accomplished. It was a totally worthless journey.

Then, the son had to drive me back.

Another three hours.

This poor young man, whose only fault was to be born the son of a horrible psychopath, son had to drive for nearly 6 hours that day.  

When I arrived back in town, I did not enter the office on return, but jumped into a taxi and went home.

The point was not the task in Westmoreland. The Boss From Hell wanted  to prove his power by waking me up.  He failed.

One of his favourite things was to call me into his office, point; "Sit there..." and begin to attack me.  He would babble on and on and I would look at the time.  

The longer he talked the less work I did.

He thought that I cared about anything he said.  He thought he could insult me, criticise my work, my ability, etc.

He did not comprehend that I considered him sub-human so that nothing he said was taken as truthful or sensible, any more than a goat bleating on the road.  

He never realised that I had no respect for him.  I considered him a foul and filthy pig, who didn't belong among decent people.  

There were many other incidents during the three years, eleven months I worked for him.  

I left him when it would do the most damage.

It was the least I could do.