The "employees" and "bosses" are really fictional pets and their owners. Each "my boss..." pet peeve serves as a clue for an owner. Each "my employee..." clue shares an enumeration with the name of a pet. The clues are listed alphabetically by owner, but we'll end up ordering them chronologically (as the flavor text implies), so let's look at them that way. First, the pets' peeves:
- "It really bugs me when I have to wait for my boss while he spends ten years sailing around the Mediterranean." - The boss is Odysseus, so the pet is ARGOS/ARGUS
- "I want to gag whenever my boss tries to play a violin and smoke a pipe at the same time." - The boss is Sherlock Holmes, so the pet is TOBY
- "It really irritates me whenever my boss has to deal with Mister Mxyzptlk." - The boss is Superman, so the pet is KRYPTO
- "I really wish my boss wouldn't ignore me while I re-enact great works of literature." - The boss is the kid from the show "Wishbone," so the pet is WISHBONE
- "It just drives me up the wall, the way my boss will ditch a dreamboat like Kyle MacLachlan and then marry her divorce lawyer." - The boss is Charlotte York from "Sex and the City," so the pet is ELIZABETH TAYLOR
- "The worst thing is when my boss refers to himself as 'Theodore K. Mullins.'" - The boss is Winston Bishop from "New Girl," so the pet is FERGUSON
- "I get so mad when my boss insists he needs an 'emotion chip' to feel any empathy toward me." - The boss is Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," so the pet is SPOT
Some of the bosses' clues have the same enumerations, but in those cases the clues have been designed to distinguish who is speaking, hopefully:
- "I can't stand how my employee relies on RATIONAL, UNEMOTIONAL REASONING (5)." (Odysseus) - LOGIC
- "What really grinds my gears is when my employee interrupts me while I'm deciphering, E.G., A SERIES OF DANCING MEN (4)." (Sherlock Holmes) - CODE
- "It drives me crazy whenever my employee is distracted by a THIEVING BIRD (6)." (Superman) - MAGPIE
- "I'm sick and tired of my employee using the wrong STRESS (8) when listing his roles, e.g. 'Oli-VER Twist' or 'Ivan-HOE' or 'Qua-SI-modo.'" (the kid from "Wishbone") - EMPHASIS
- "I get so frustrated when my employee drags me HALFWAY ACROSS THE QUEENSBORO BRIDGE (9,6) just to see an old lighthouse." (Charlotte York) - ROOSEVELT ISLAND
- "I hate how my employee reminds me of MY ROOMMATE NICK'S EX (8)." (Winston Bishop) - CAROLINE
- "I get really ticked off whenever my employee gets lost on our spacefaring VESSEL (4)." (Data) - SHIP
Each pet name has letter in common (same letter in same position) with the corresponding owner's answer. Reading them off in chronological order, we get the answer: GOPHERS, which are not typically pets, but does describe put-upon employees.
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