rain schmain
Mar. 26th, 2011 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
samsomI went shopping.
Granted, it was at Target. And I was getting a new shower curtain and towel rod for the bathroom.
BUT IT WAS SHOPPING, DAMMIT.
Anyway, it's raining today. Again. After this though, there's nothing but sun and 75+ degree weather in our immediate future, according to the Weather Channel.
Whee! Bring it!
And for dinner, we're having pork baby back ribs for dinner tonight, along with sauteed green beans and French Fries.
Should be good.
I gotta just vent a little about my co-worker, the one who shares my office with me. Normally, I can withstand her quirks and annoying habits. But when my defenses are down - like they were earlier this week when I caught a small bout of the 'flu (according to the doctor, I'm not sure myself) - things just become much more glaring.
Like her incessent need to say 'pretty please' every single damn time she needs to ask for something. Every time. Not just please, but pretty please. "Gate pretty please", "can you fax me a copy, pretty please", "can I borrow your cart pretty please" - ARGH.
Last week, I actually snapped at her because she kept - kept - apologizing for having to use my printer because hers was down. "I'm really sorry I have to use yours, you don't deserve to have your routine interrupted just because my printer's broken-" and blah, blah, blah, on and on. I was coming down with the 'flu, it was cold and rainy and I just snapped before I could think. "You don't have to apologize, S, it's just using my printer. No. Big. Deal." Do you know, she just kept saying she was sorry after that? It was like she was deliberately trying to abase herself.
She also feels the need to pour everyone's coffee. She does it for our boss, and the two men in the adjacent office. I put my cup on my desk one morning while I shrugged out of my coat and she poured mine before I could blink. Now I make sure that until I'm ready to go get my cup of joe, the cup stays in my desk. I don't want that, any of that, whatever that is.
Most people would see this as her doing something nice for her co-workers. I'm not that kind. I think she does it because she gets off on playing a subservient role. I think it comes from the same place that let's her think certain kinds of women characters on TV (like The Mentalist) are TOO masculine - therefore unlovable.
I've been developing this theory that she does these small acts of 'kindness' to somehow make up for the fact that when it comes to her job - she's a bitch on wheels. Not a bad thing if tempered with some common sense. But I've seen her hide files because she'll need them in two weeks and she doesn't want to go looking for them later on. I've seen her tell people they aren't allowed to see any file for even five minutes because she's not done with it - even if it was currently waiting on a cart and she wouldn't be getting around to it for two hours. I've seen her take carts of files back, because while someone was reviewing them for her, they perhaps left it in the wrong place while they went to lunch. So I think she pours the coffee and says 'pretty please' and apologizes for everything, because they cost her nothing and it softens her image for the times when she needs to be a hard-ass.
I realize that I probably don't sound nice complaining about her, but whatever. It's how I feel. Don't hate me...pretty please. :P
Granted, it was at Target. And I was getting a new shower curtain and towel rod for the bathroom.
BUT IT WAS SHOPPING, DAMMIT.
Anyway, it's raining today. Again. After this though, there's nothing but sun and 75+ degree weather in our immediate future, according to the Weather Channel.
Whee! Bring it!
And for dinner, we're having pork baby back ribs for dinner tonight, along with sauteed green beans and French Fries.
Should be good.
I gotta just vent a little about my co-worker, the one who shares my office with me. Normally, I can withstand her quirks and annoying habits. But when my defenses are down - like they were earlier this week when I caught a small bout of the 'flu (according to the doctor, I'm not sure myself) - things just become much more glaring.
Like her incessent need to say 'pretty please' every single damn time she needs to ask for something. Every time. Not just please, but pretty please. "Gate pretty please", "can you fax me a copy, pretty please", "can I borrow your cart pretty please" - ARGH.
Last week, I actually snapped at her because she kept - kept - apologizing for having to use my printer because hers was down. "I'm really sorry I have to use yours, you don't deserve to have your routine interrupted just because my printer's broken-" and blah, blah, blah, on and on. I was coming down with the 'flu, it was cold and rainy and I just snapped before I could think. "You don't have to apologize, S, it's just using my printer. No. Big. Deal." Do you know, she just kept saying she was sorry after that? It was like she was deliberately trying to abase herself.
She also feels the need to pour everyone's coffee. She does it for our boss, and the two men in the adjacent office. I put my cup on my desk one morning while I shrugged out of my coat and she poured mine before I could blink. Now I make sure that until I'm ready to go get my cup of joe, the cup stays in my desk. I don't want that, any of that, whatever that is.
Most people would see this as her doing something nice for her co-workers. I'm not that kind. I think she does it because she gets off on playing a subservient role. I think it comes from the same place that let's her think certain kinds of women characters on TV (like The Mentalist) are TOO masculine - therefore unlovable.
I've been developing this theory that she does these small acts of 'kindness' to somehow make up for the fact that when it comes to her job - she's a bitch on wheels. Not a bad thing if tempered with some common sense. But I've seen her hide files because she'll need them in two weeks and she doesn't want to go looking for them later on. I've seen her tell people they aren't allowed to see any file for even five minutes because she's not done with it - even if it was currently waiting on a cart and she wouldn't be getting around to it for two hours. I've seen her take carts of files back, because while someone was reviewing them for her, they perhaps left it in the wrong place while they went to lunch. So I think she pours the coffee and says 'pretty please' and apologizes for everything, because they cost her nothing and it softens her image for the times when she needs to be a hard-ass.
I realize that I probably don't sound nice complaining about her, but whatever. It's how I feel. Don't hate me...pretty please. :P
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-27 02:55 pm (UTC)There are people who are just kind. Maybe overly so, but kind in their soul. However, since she obviously does some passive aggressive things with the files, I think you're probably right about her motivations not being based in true love and concern for others. It does sound like she's playing an office politics game and the "pretty please" and "sorries" are just habits at this point and have no sincere feelings behind them.
Btw, we're having a cold wave - back into the 30's. But it's sunny as hell so yay for that!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-27 06:48 pm (UTC)Re co-worker. I think she thinks she means it when she says the words but it's so clear by her actions - and her other words - that they're just a coating. What's underneath them are cold and harsh. She's very bitter - she constantly complains about not having anyone, especially around Christmas or Valentine's, she isolates herself from her family because they can't behave in the way she needs them to (if her mother says she's going to call between seven and nine, and ends up not calling or calling a half after afterwards, God help her)...the list goes on. On my good days, I feel bad for her, because she, by her whole attitude and life philosophy, has chosen a very hard road to walk. But then she complains that she doesn't like yet another female character because "she's too mean" or whatever, and then it all goes out the window.
I dream of having my own space there. It would make my job just about perfect. :P
no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 02:11 am (UTC)Your coworker sounds... difficult to say the least. Ever considered asking her why she feels the need to act that way?
no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 04:28 am (UTC)We're headed for a day in the sun, possibly the beach, this coming weekend. I think we're supposed to hit 80-degrees. \o/
She's difficult on the days when I'm not firing on all cylinders. Like last week. I'm not sure she can tell me why she's like what she's like. She's just one of those people who are very black and white...very rigid and structured. She needs it, I think, in order to function in a chaotic and fluid world.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-02 10:07 am (UTC)I kid you not!
I couldn't even begin to explain the annoying things this woman does....until one day I snapped.
She has this terrible habit of sitting down and then hiking her skirt up to her nether regions - she's about 55 shaped liked the S Bend on a toilet and then she spreads her legs so you can see EVERYTHING.
She had a visitor, whom unluckily sat opposite her and she did the skirt hiking routine and spread her legs and I snapped and said VERY loudly "HELEN, PULL YOUR SKIRT DOWN" and you know what, I haven't seen her do it since.
She spends all day working on personal files and telephone calls and then at 4.45 will ask me to reconcile HER mastercard statement...SHE DRIVES ME NUTS!!!!
And these are but a few of her annoying habits, thank god she's only temporary and if my boss re-hires her, I'm going to apply for a permanent position elsewhere!
luv me (sarahk_63)