We’ve all had them. The type of boss who makes you dread the thought of Monday morning so much that you ‘throw a sickie’, or who may even put you under so much pressure that it causes you to be signed-off work with stress. I’ve had a few bad bosses in my time in various sales jobs, from the door-knocking ‘front line’ to office-based and corporate, there has been no escape from the fools.

The commission-only, arse end of sales is, as you can imagine, full of stereotypical dodgy salesmen. Fast talking and creative with the truth, they are impulsive and spend money as fast as they make it, and are so self-centred and focussed on their pursuit of top dollar, that they are the worst managers imaginable should their good sales performance lead to a misguided promotion. Paranoia is always a background influence in the dog-eat-dog sales environment. Continue reading →

Guns n’ Roses live at the O2 Arena in London

Germany’s greatest Guns n’ Roses funky it read on the back of a man’s leather jacket. Hmm… I’m sure you are mein freund. The return of Guns n’ Roses to London had been a long time coming and the previous dates on the tour had met with enough criticism for me to expect the worst at the second of their two O2 Arena shows last night. What initially had been an interesting night for people-watching – some hardcore GnR fans crank the eccentricity (or ‘funky’ if you’re German) up to ‘11’ – eventually descended into a test of drunken endurance as the entire evening last for five hours, meaning that anyone who stayed until the end missed the last tube and last Thames Clipper boat and had to show an ankle to get a taxi to stop or risk queuing for hours. Continue reading →