Those Zany Office Workers

In keeping with my “Let’s ride the crazy train with Jane” theme, I thought I’d enlighten you as to the types of people I work with and the delightful scenarios that occur as a result:

1) The lady who calls me EVERY TIME SHE SENDS ME AN EMAIL. To say, “I just sent you an email”. She sends me at least five emails EVERY DAY. It drives me absolutely insane. Each voicemail says exactly the same thing as the email. Double the pleasure, double the fun!

2) The lady who reacts to every possible issue, before taking the time to determine if it is, in fact, an issue. I spent four hours today tracking down “HUGE problem, OMG if this isn’t working we’re screwed” type of thing. A “lets’ email everyone and let them know that this isn’t working even though I haven’t actually confirmed that it isn’t working” type of thing. The most irksome part of this is that 99% of the time, the reason something behaves the way it does is … you guessed it, because she told me to make it behave that way. Luckily, I always have the email(s) to send back to her. She is never apologetic, and always acts as if she’s doing me a favor by admitting that she did, in fact, ask for it to work that way. But she never emails everyone again to let them know. So I started including them in the emails I send to her.

3) The guy who is so afraid that someone may be better at his job than he is, that he will not share any information with you. Even if you have been tasked with helping him finish work on one of his projects. It would be easier to learn a new language while deserted on an island for a year than to have to try to start working on one of his projects. He is a true environmentalist, as he “leaves no trace”. No documentation, no comments, no replies to your emails or phone calls. I like to think of it as being a secret agent, dropped off in a foreign country, trying to complete a mission. I try to ignore the fact that my foreign county is approximately 8x8 and the color of urine.

4) The guy who wants to talk your ear off, but then makes snide comments about you behind your back. And it isn’t just me; he stabs everyone in the back. To your face, he wants to tell you all about his landscaping plan, or how well his pet chinchilla is doing, but when he thinks you are out of range, he’ll disparage your work, your hours, and anything else he can come up with.

5) The girl who really, really, wants to be left alone and get some actual work done. Guess who? I have spent so much time the last few days tracking down “problems” and then having to explain to ten different people that they aren’t problems, they were requested. ~Sigh~

On a completely different and AWESOME note, my husband is going to a big charity event that Widespread Panic’s lead singer helps out with every year. We have wanted to go for quite some time, but this is the first year we’ve really been close enough to do it. The best part? I’ll get to take S to Disney! And see WP's lead singer in concert! And get out of this town for a while. Which I need badly.