That would ping me as "wrong," but not because I'm all full of class and such, but because of the proportions of empty wall:pictures.
Fancy high-class book larnin' with the "proportions" and the ":"!
Ha! I only use those fancy words and punctuation marks to impress high-class folks!
Is it wrong of me to think that, maybe, the actual process of looking for a new place may change your boss' attitude a bit, making him realize how valuable you are to the place in general and the symposium specifically?
Unfortunately, no. He believes that I'm incompetent. Before he left on Friday sort of washed his hands of me, said he was going to save yelling at me until the symposium was over, and that I was working below my pay grade.
Allyson, because your boss has (1) told you that he's going to "yell at [you]," but at a future date at his convenience, then surely he knows that by pre-warning you about the "yelling," (2) you *know* things ain't good at work.
And therefore, any boss who tells his employee that she's incompetent ABSOLUTELY has to know that said employee is going to start looking for a job that appreciates her. Seriously. He's all but said, "After the symposium, you're in BIG TROUBLE, missy!" If he's stupid enough to think that, after that, you *wouldn't* immediately start looking for jobs, well, then, he deserves to be left high and dry for the symposium.
After all, why would he want an incompetent person working on his symposium, right?
Seriously. You have to look out for your own interests above all else.