WEBVTT - When Work Gets Spooky 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:07.160 My colleagues. We'll stop commenting on everything I get at 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:09.680 people and meeting. Why does my coworker keep taking credit 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:12.240 for all my idea? Have any wisdom for me? Hi, 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.760 I'm Alison Green. Welcome to the Aska Manager Podcast, where 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:19.520 I answer questions from listeners about life at work, everything 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:21.640 from what to say if you're allergic to your coworkers 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:23.800 perfume to what to do if you drink too much 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:29.000 at the company party. Let's get started, Hi, and welcome 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:32.320 to the show. This is a special Halloween episode. So first, 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.559 Happy Halloween. Today, we're going to talk about Halloween in 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.919 the office, ways that I can go wrong, things to avoid, 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.440 and questions that I get a lot about Halloween. We're 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:45.120 also going to hear from callers who have had spooky 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.560 experiences at work, so get ready to be creeped out 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.480 by those stories. In fact, to launch the show, let's 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:57.240 start with one colors spooky experience at work. So in 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.680 I used to work at Lincoln Castle as a general 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.520 staff member. One of my roles was to sit in 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.560 the corner of a specially made vault containing an original 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.960 Magna Carta document which is about just over eight years old. Anyhow, 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.080 I would pretty much stop people taking photos in there, 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.959 answer questions, and just beyond guard. When nobody's in there, 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.240 it can get pretty quiet if the film isn't playing 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.039 in the next room and there is a sensor above 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:26.560 the vault door that flicks to red from green. If 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.759 a person walks through Q tow an afternoon when it's 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.080 dead and I'm chilling on my guard store when the 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:36.920 censor starts flicking fast green to red, green to red, 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.600 and let me tell you, no one is near it, 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.520 not me or any visitors. In addition to this spookery, 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:46.000 the glass of the Magna Carta casing starts to fog 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:51.200 up then disappears almost instantly, regards one creeped out ex 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:59.360 castle staff member aka Natasha from Lincoln in the UK. 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.160 That story has everything that I want from a spooky story, 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:09.840 an old historical artifact castle, mysterious flashing lights, even fog, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:14.560 and of course, completely unanswered questions about what happened. We're 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.600 gonna have more first person accounts from Colors as we 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:21.240 move through the show, but let's talk about Halloween at work. 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.680 Let's start with should you wear a costume to work? 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.560 Or the other version of this question that I get 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.720 a lot is do you have to wear a costume 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.400 to work if everyone else is and you don't feel 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.200 like it, will you look like a stick in the mud. 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:37.239 There's nothing wrong with dressing up at work. If that's 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.360 a thing that your office does, it can be really fun. 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.480 The one caution I would give is to think about 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:44.320 the work that you might end up needing to do 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:46.960 that day and make sure that your costume isn't going 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:48.760 to get in the way. Like if you have to 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.440 talk to clients, obviously, don't wear a costume that makes 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:53.959 it hard to talk or to hear. And if you 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.520 ever have to deliver difficult or sensitive news in the 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.359 course of doing your job, take that into a out too, 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.480 because you don't want to give someone bad news while 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.480 you're dressed as a banana or a ghoul. The same 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.120 thing is actually true when it comes to decorations at 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.680 work too. You don't want to find yourself giving someone 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:15.160 bad news, or even just talking to a stressed out 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:19.079 person surrounded by blood and fake spider webs while as 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.640 soundtrack of eerie music is playing in the background. Once 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:25.600 the other costume rules, if you are new to your office, 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.160 if you weren't there last Halloween and you're not sure 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.400 what their traditions are. Ask ahead of time because you 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.359 probably don't want to be the only person in your 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.680 office dressed as a bloody zombie or iron man or 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:41.120 what have you. And then be thoughtful about what your 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:45.360 costume is, so that means nothing sexually provocative, despite the 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:49.960 trend in Halloween costumes being increasingly sexed up. So no 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:54.320 naughty nurses, no sexy cat, no flasher or so forth. 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.080 Basically assume that co workers shouldn't see any more of 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.640 your body than they do on any other day of 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:04.120 the year. That's a pretty good litmus test. And don't 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.600 wear a costume that plays on racist or ethnic tropes, 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:09.440 and don't dress up as a member of a group 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.680 that's been systemically oppressed, So that means no Native American costumes, 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:17.440 no black face obviously, Actually I say obvious, but it 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.120 isn't obvious to everyone. Every fall I hear about someone 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.279 whose coworker has apparently not gotten the no black face 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:27.000 message yet, so it bears repeating. And really you should 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.320 stay away from costumes that could come across as making 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.000 fun of serious issues too, so like no Harvey Weinstein costume, 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.359 for example, and nothing that's very political. Your goal is 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.560 to have fun, it's not to make your coworkers feel 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.480 uncomfortable around you. Yeah, what if you don't want to 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.960 dress up, but everyone else in your office is doing it? 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.120 Will you look like a web blanket if you don't 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.240 join in. You certainly don't have to dress up if 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:53.040 you don't want to, But if you're in an office 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.039 where everyone is doing it, it might make sense to 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.239 just throw on a witch hat and call it done. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.320 You know, you can keep it really low key. You 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:02.600 don't have to go all out with an elaborate costume. 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.640 But sometimes in an office where everyone else is really 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.840 into it, it's easier to just do something simple and 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.719 look like you're participating, rather than field questions all day 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.880 long about why you're not dressed up. But you certainly 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.400 don't have to. And of course, if you have a 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:22.279 religious objection to celebrating Halloween, as some people do, that's 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:24.400 a whole different thing, and you of course can opt 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.600 out in that case. But if you're not really into it, 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:29.520 but you're thinking, I should just do something so that 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.320 I don't get hassled all day over at the Aska 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:36.560 Manager website, recently, commenters were sharing ideas for really low 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.599 key Halloween costumes that are easy to do at work, 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:41.640 when you want to sort of make a nod to 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:45.840 this group experience and not seem like you're totally not participating, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.200 but when you also don't want to put a ton 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.920 of effort into it. Some of the ideas people suggested 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.640 that I thought were great were just something as simple 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.520 as a headband with cat ears or one of those 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.160 headpieces with an arrow through your head. Or you cannot 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.400 wear a costume at all and when people ask, you 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.359 can say I'm a serial killer they look like everyone else, 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.080 or I'm might evil twin. I have a whole bunch 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:12.240 of these, by the way, I'm going to go through 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:13.400 the whole list, and I just want to make it 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:15.520 clear I cannot take credit for these. These are all 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:20.880 ideas from asking manager commenters. Another one someone suggested, right 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.839 on a white T shirt four oh four costume not found. 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:27.760 Or wear jeans and a T shirt and a hard 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.320 hat and now you're a construction worker. Or wear a 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:36.000 suit and be the CEO. Or get a rectangle of 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.560 yellow cardboard, hold it up to your face and tell 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:43.719 people that you are National geographic. Or stick your arms 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.320 inside your top and say that you are the book 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:51.039 Farewell to Arms, or pretty much anything that Jim Helpert 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.000 did on the office is a good model. Here, tape 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.279 three circles to your shirt, say you're a piece of 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.800 notebook paper, were a name tag that says Dave and 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.080 say that your Dave. Put on a wizard hat. Or 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:06.120 if you normally wear a suit, add sunglasses and now 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.840 you're men in black, or where goffier makeup than usual 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.720 and say that you're goth. Or my favorite suggestion that 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.560 someone made just because it sounds so comfortable, wear a 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.360 hoodie and sweatpants and have messy hair and say that 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.400 you're a frazzled college student. That one gets my vote. 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.640 Or you can just say, you know, yeah, I didn't 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:27.840 dress up this year, but I love your costume and 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.600 that is fine too. Also, while we're on this topic, 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:33.600 if you are in an office where most people do 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:36.440 dress up and you've got one coworker who doesn't, don't 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:38.680 hassle them about not getting into the spirit of the 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:42.040 holiday or whatever. Not everyone likes dressing up. Some people 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:44.960 have reasons that might be private. Enjoy the costumes of 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:46.680 the people who did dress up and let your other 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:51.440 coworkers be costume free in peace. Let's take a short 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.400 break and I will come right back with another spooky 0:07:54.400 --> 0:08:06.240 work story from a collar. Here's a spooky thing that 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.480 happened at work. I often find myself working late in 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.800 the office, and I'm usually there by myself. Sometimes it 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.160 can be really late, it's like ten or eleven o'clock 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.160 at night, and being the boss, I tend to walk 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.440 around the office, which is quite large, and make sure 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.080 that all the lights are shut off at the end 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.840 of the day. Well, I have gone through the building 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.880 multiple times and had all the lights shut off. Obviously 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.520 no one's there because I've gone through the entire building 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:35.960 been on the other side of the building when I've 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:40.800 heard a door slam shut. At first, I always thought 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:42.480 it was a fluke thing, but it has happened so 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.800 many times, and come to find out that the building 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:52.040 has a little bit of um some just people. Other 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:56.600 people have experienced a similar thing, doors being shut even 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.920 though no one else is there, and even hearing people speaking, 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.160 and then come to find out nobody's actually in the hallway. 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:07.000 Needless to stay working until ten or or eleven o'clock 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.760 at night in the dark has become my not favorite 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.640 thing to do in that office. That's my spooky office story. 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.000 You know. In past years, I've asked readers at my 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:25.840 website to share spooky experiences that they've had at work, 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.320 and a lot of people reported stuff like this, voices 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.880 when no one was there and doors slamming when they 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.800 were alone in the building. It's interesting because if I 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.360 were a ghost, I would not choose to hang out 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.760 at work or in an office building. Possibly these ghosts 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:44.559 were workaholics in previous lives. I don't know. Okay, There's 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.520 one other context where I get questions about Halloween costumes 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.439 and work, and that is job interviews. I've had more 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.400 than one person right to me and ask if they 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:54.600 should wear a costume if they have a job interview 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.360 on Halloween, presumably as a way to show some personality 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:01.120 or that they're fun or whatever. But don't do it. 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.800 I'm sure there is some interviewer out there who would 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:05.840 like it and think that you're fantastic, but there are 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.520 far far more interviewers who are going to think it's 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.440 a little inappropriate and an odd choice for an interview. Plus, 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:14.840 you really want their focus to be on your qualifications. 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.280 And not on whatever you're wearing. Anyway, let's get to 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:21.280 more spooky stories. In fact, the whole rest of the 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.240 show is going to be all spooky stories from people. 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.000 I had mentioned earlier that in previous years I've asked 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.600 ask a manager readers readers over at the website from 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:33.280 which this podcast has sprung to share their own stories 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.560 of spooky happenings at work. And I thought I would 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:37.880 share a couple of my favorites that people have sent 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.480 in in past years, and then we'll hear more that 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.720 podcast listeners have called in with. Here's one that someone 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.960 shared that is really a bit spooky. I work in 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.160 a nursing home with many folks who have dementia. They 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.079 live in other realities, and I'm used to residents saying 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.320 weird things. However, there seems to be a trend in 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.679 one area of the building where residents to quickly refer 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.920 to quote the little boy who always seems to be 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.400 standing somewhere near It's very common for a resident to 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:09.720 be talking to the little boy or look like they're 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.760 talking to thin air, and it's also common for them 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.360 to ask us questions about the boy, like is this 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:18.360 your child? Or is the little boy going to come 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.160 to the activity, to et cetera. It's only in that 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:24.960 one area of the building, but it's with almost all 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:27.679 of the residents who have dementia. Only one of them 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.400 has a history of having visual hallucinations. It does creep 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:35.400 me out a little bit. I don't know if collective 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.720 shared hallucinations are a thing or not. It wouldn't surprise 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.720 me if they were, but this is a pretty unsettling story. 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.800 Here's another one someone submitted. I worked in a place 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.600 where when we renovated our office, they decided to replace 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:50.760 all the walls with glass to show that we were 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:55.120 a transparent organization. As you can probably guess, leadership, they're 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.920 kind of sucked. While the higher ups had frosted glass offices, 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:01.840 most of the staff at glass fish bowl offices with 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.920 no doors. As you can imagine, we all hated when 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.680 we lost our walls, particularly one guy who routinely complained 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.760 about it. Well, a few months later, this guy's fired 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.040 for unrelated reasons in the worst way possible, where they 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.840 did it mid morning and everyone saw it happen. Hard 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.120 to hide things in the glass office, so he had 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.559 to pack up all his stuff and was escorted from 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:26.040 the building. The next day, the glass walls of the 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.800 fired guy's office shattered. No one was near that office, 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.160 no one saw anything suspicious, and we worked in a 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.000 secure office so people couldn't come in without us knowing. 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.720 We never found out what happened, but I like to 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.600 think that fired guy got his revenge. I love that one. 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.160 Here is another one, almost twenty years ago. I worked 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.679 for my town's park and Recreation department. Started as a 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.520 summer job in college, but I ended up in a 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.120 program manager role for a while and worked part time 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:53.800 through the year. While I was in school part time 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:56.560 because my hours weren't nine to five Monday through Friday, 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:58.600 I went in at off hours to get my work 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.600 done around my course schedule. The office was in an 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.400 old building that had been a gym. The basketball court 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:07.559 was ancient but was still used for games and special Olympics. 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.560 This isn't a terrifying ghost story by any means, but 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:12.920 it's very spooky to be working late at night and 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.600 here the unmistakable squeaking of multiple pairs of sneakers playing 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.160 on a basketball court when there's no one but you 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.719 in the building. There was also a basement that had 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.440 a very scary vibe. I wouldn't go down there alone. 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:27.960 There had been tunnels under my town that were used 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.960 to run booze during prohibition, and my building had some 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.800 boarded up underground entrances that scared the hell out of me. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.280 It felt very ghosty. There was also the spot on 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.160 the stairs by the edge of the basketball court. They 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.000 took you up to a small storage space and a 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.760 balcony seating area to view the court. It was just 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.920 this one spot where you could stand and feel super haunted. 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.319 It wasn't so specific like in a really good ghost story, 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.000 like you wouldn't see opparitions or anything, but there was 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.400 this unmistakable scary feeling you'd get at this one spot 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:59.959 on the stairs. I can still picture it. I had 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.120 a friend who considered herself to be pretty open to 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:04.320 the spirit world. I thought she was a little looney, 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.360 but I was kind of seeking some confirmation that there 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.800 was a really weird feeling on those stairs. So I 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.320 brought her in one night and she was a wild eyed, 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:13.440 like the place just scared the hell out of her. 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:15.600 I brought her up to the stairs and I didn't 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:17.360 say anything. I just wanted her to go up and 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.920 let me know how she felt. And she stopped right 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.360 before the spot and said, I'm not going past this area. 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.040 I will not stand here. I can't do this and 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.840 pointed to the spot that always gave me the spooky feelings. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.920 I'm a fairly logical person and not easily tricked by 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.720 things that could be other things. You know, ghost stories 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.360 don't usually work on me. But I also know what 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:40.200 I heard and what I felt. I'm not going to 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.240 read too much into it or you know, makeup that 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.600 a guy died there and his ghost still plays basketball 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.600 all night. But that place had some really weird vibes, 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:52.360 confirmed by many many people. Okay, here is another creepy 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.320 story someone shared. I'm loving all of these, and I 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.280 hope you're liking them too. By the way, I have 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.200 worked at my current agency for almost eight years, and 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.800 during that time, I've been shuffled back and forth between 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.400 my current office were the only scary things are the 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:08.640 skunks that occasionally get into the basement and the main office, 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:11.960 which is a restored elementary school building originally constructed in 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.320 the late eighteen hundreds. I never experienced anything myself while 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.720 working there, but there was definitely supposed to be a ghost. 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.520 We had an elaborate security system, and one night, long 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:24.680 after everyone in the office was gone, the motion activated 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.680 camera came on and started to record. When I reviewed 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.560 the video in the morning, it showed a weird, shapeless 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.680 shadow that floated through the lobby and kind of paused 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.560 at the windows of the doors. The offices were converted 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.080 from the classroom, so each cubicle area had a window 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.920 door that opened under the central lobby. The shadow eventually 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.160 floated up over the receptionist desk and disappeared, and then 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.600 the camera turned off. I wish I could upload the 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:53.720 video because it is truly creptastic, but I don't dare. 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.320 I t has saved it on the shared drive and 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:59.920 uses it to freak out new hires. Let's do one fight. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:01.920 I'll drink here and then we'll come back with more 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:15.080 stories from callers. I mean, this is for the Spooky 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:21.360 Halloween coming cast. I had and I've had experiences where 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:26.840 I used to work as a dispatcher for a charity 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:34.320 clothing and toy warehouse, and it was my job to 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:39.080 close the warehouse and after everyone had gone home, and 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:44.560 I've finished some compliance and and I cannot count the 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.880 number of times that I would be walking in among 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:54.920 the carts and all of a sudden, always simultaneously and 0:16:55.080 --> 0:17:00.080 always spontaneously, a bunch of toys in a bunch of 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:05.560 guards would start quacking or playing creepy music or talking. 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:15.200 Once doll actually sat up and looked at me from 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:21.080 from the top of a garbage bag and laughed at 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:25.520 the creepiest laugh ever. I felt like I was the 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.640 in the first scene of a Doctor Who episode and 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:37.359 they wouldn't even realize I was gone, or maybe a 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:45.520 a murder doll movie. But so that's my creepy Aska 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:55.040 manager story. If a doll sat up and looked at 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.639 me and laughed creepily, I would be out of that 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:01.840 warehouse in seconds. So kudos to you caller for going 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.880 back night after night. Here's another of my favorite stories 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.679 that was shared by an Aska Manager reader in the past. 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.159 At my last job, I would often work several hours 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.480 past the others and past dark. There were multiple times 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.679 when I would hear filing cabinets opening downstairs. Here the 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.840 printer randomly turn on and start whirring and voices whispering. 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.960 Sometimes the door would be unlocked when I was sure 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:28.640 that I had locked it every time I thought someone 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.399 else would come back for something, and every time it 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.240 was dark and silent. When I got downstairs to look. 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:37.439 The voices were the worst. When you work in an 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.480 industrial park, you don't expect to hear talking from outside 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.399 after hours, the places in the middle of nowhere. Of course, 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:46.919 you could make an argument for stress. I sat at 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:48.959 the top of the stairs in a creaky old building 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.480 with my back to the stairwell, and I was overworked 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:56.360 and tired. That said my boss, Slash, the owner, did 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.120 die in a tragic and unexplained plane crash a couple 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:03.400 of months before. H I think the stressing is interesting. 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:05.960 I mean, it's hard to trust ourselves entirely when we're 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.760 stressed out and tired. On the other hand, you have 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:10.920 to be really stressed out to be hearing this stuff 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:15.760 every night, So who knows. Here's another one. This is 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.400 also submitted by a reader. I work in a museum. 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.560 There's always been a joke that the man the museum 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.479 was named after haunted the place. Things would go missing 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:27.360 and items in the souvenir shop would be moved when 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:29.880 housekeeping did a deep clean at night. They always said 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:34.360 strange stuff would happen, sounds, voices, etcetera. When the museum 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.399 was renovated, we added a big screen theater. There's a 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.040 control booth with a small storage area at the top 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.640 of the theater steps. There's also a tiny balcony behind 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.280 the control booth where we have screens that face the 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:50.520 main hall and that we used to advertise upcoming events, memberships, etcetera. 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.000 Many of the security staff swear that they have seen 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.160 and or experienced ghostly happenings in the control booth, storage area, 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:03.360 balcony area. One really large muscled ex military guy had 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.240 such a frightening experience that he refused to go in 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.399 the theater. He was on rounds, checked the theater and 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:11.960 heard sounds in the control booth. He knew the A 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:14.080 V guy was off that day, so he went up. 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:16.199 He saw no one in the booth or in the 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.520 storage area, so he was checking the balcony area. He 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:23.520 said someone shoved him and he almost fell off the balcony. 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:25.800 There was no one in the theater besides him, but 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.080 they checked the tape anyway, You could clearly see on 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:31.480 the tape the moment that he was pushed forward, but 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:34.480 you couldn't see what pushed him. I stay away from 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:36.960 the theater. If the biggest security guard in the place 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.480 was almost pushed off the balcony by invisible forces, I 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:43.320 am not chancing it. Are you thoroughly creeped out? Yet? 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:46.080 I have more? Here's another one, also from a reader. 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.639 Back in college, I worked at a fairly fancy, fairly 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:51.920 old hotel at the front desk and in the restaurant. 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:55.439 Most of the restaurant shifts were fairly quiet on weeknights 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:57.600 and during lunch, so we would sit in the back 0:20:57.640 --> 0:20:59.800 of the restaurant with a book and wait for customers. 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:02.080 We had a mirror above one of the back tables 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:04.480 that was arranged so that we could see when guests arrived. 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:07.320 I'm more than one occasion I saw a black figure 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:09.320 in the mirror, went up front and saw it moved 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:12.119 through the restaurant and entered the kitchen. I assumed it 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:14.520 was just my eyes playing tricks, because it was kind 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.199 of creepy when you were there alone at night, up 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.480 until my friend Rob mentioned that he had seen the 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:22.080 same thing, except he was in the middle weight station 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:24.399 and saw a figure walk over from the bar and 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:28.480 crouched down behind the front booth before disappearing. We then 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.919 pulled everyone else and found out that they were also 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.399 seeing this shadow man thing, and we all thought that 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:38.520 we were imagining it or crazy. What the hell you all? 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:43.159 Here's another one, also from a reader. I used to 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:46.000 work in an office in a manufacturing facility. There were 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.639 two rows of cubicles back to back with high walls 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.040 so that we couldn't see to the other side. A 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:53.240 co worker and I were working in one row trying 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:55.680