'He says he listens, but he never does' or 'She says I never listen, but I do'

Men and women are different and work in different ways, surprisingly enough. One difference arises in their coping with stress and dealing with problems. When presented with a crisis, most men will go into solving mode and immediately start brainstorming resolutions and courses of action to take. Most women, on the other hand, will tend to want some empathy from their listener before going into problem-solving mode. I'm not going to try and list possible reasons for this, because like all you other men reading this, I am utterly baffled by it. However, there is no use in letting our actions be guided by 'how it should be', rather, we should accept reality and respond to it as best we can.

In future, when your girlfriend complains to you about her psychotic boss, rather than showering her with possible resolutions ('stand up to him', 'tell him how he is making you feel', 'tell somebody else', 'work with him towards a possible compromise', etc.), take some time to agree with her. In the early stages of this 'discussion', your input should be minimal. Put on your empathic voice and face (try not to be patronising here, because ideally, you should be genuinely empathetic) and agree that her boss is a big bully, that she can't be expected to complete all her work that quickly when there are important coffees to be had and facebook status comments to be responded to, that she's entitled to a break every 20 minutes of the working day. There may come a point in her soliloquy where your constructive input is asked for, where you can put your problem-solving hat on. Of course, there may not, because sometimes people just need to vent stress and complain to somebody who is sympathetic, and if that person isn't their partner, well, they're fucked aren't they!

Guys, do as I have advised. Girls, if one of you ever stumbles upon this thread, try and explain this to your guy.