First up, I want to let everyone know that I will be picking the winners of my half-month long contest on Christmas Eve, so if you still want in, just let me know in the comments. Clicking on this link will give you all the details you need.
This is a follow-up/part 2 of I Wish To Register A Complaint, the tone of which may offend those who live their lives to the philosophy of Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil. If you live your life that way, please give strong consideration to finding something else to do, like going to this wonderful website.
Did you ever notice that even though you might go above and beyond what you normally do for your job, you still get treated like shit by the very people that you go that extra mile for? Well, I have, and frankly, it's getting very tiresome. The amount of schtuff that I do during my work day is quite a lot and the blowback that I'm getting from those staff members who have an over-inflated importance of self is getting seriously annoying.
From 2006 thru the 3Q of this year, it has been my personal rule of thumb to treat everyone like adults and sometimes go above and beyond what I usually do in order to make my job not only easier but enjoyable as well. However, the amount of blowback I've been getting has gotten stupider and nastier, and quite frankly, I'm getting quite fed up with it.
If I send you an e-mail giving you at least a week's notice that I will not be somewhere due to prior commitments and that you'll have to do something just a little different, don't spend three hours creating Mt. Everest out of an anthill. Just do what I want when I want so that I can get my job done in a timely manner.
If I tell you over the phone that I work on particular something once a month because we are short staffed and I have to PRIORITIZE my duties, don't give me athlete's scalp by going over my head to someone who is not my supervisor to bitch about it. Nobody likes or respects a bitchy co-worker. Nobody.
If send you multiple e-mails asking for an item so that I can do my job by making sure that someone gets a paycheck, don't tell me, "Okay, I'll get it to you." and then not get it to me. Believe me, I understand what you go through on a daily basis, so I make sure to bother you only when absolutely necessary.
If you ask me to do something for you because 1) you really need it and 2), no one hasn't gotten back to you in order to fix your problem to begin with so that you can do it yourself, then tattoo it inside your brain that I'm not going to do it again for you. "One and done" is the working phrase of the day here. I'm not your personal secretary, so learn to get it for yourself. If I can get the same thing for myself, there should be no reason why you can't get it for yourself as well.
What this really boils down to is that I'm not going to put up with blowback from anyone anymore. I have a semi-photographic memory, and if you couple that with a mania for having a paper trail, I can almost guarantee that I will not tolerate being lied to, lied about, having words shoved into my mouth or get thrown under the road paver.
2015 is a brand new year, and remember, I can play the same kind of bullshit games as you, only I can do it better and with consequences that affect 100% you and maybe 5% me.
(c) 2014 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved.
I know you and Riot Kitty are pals -- you should swap war stories! She deals with a lot of tiresome people too, as you know.
ReplyDeleteDebra, we have swapped war stories for years. However, hers are mostly private sector with just a dash of public, while mine are strictly public sector. Still, she has beaten me to the punch with her trials and tribulations just enough times to make me slack jaw.
Delete"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"
ReplyDeleteGood for you. There's a big difference between going above and beyond and being a doormat, and it's awesome that you won't let the latter happen.
ABFtS: Quite frankly, I'm a few levels beyond that particular quote. Now I'm just a mixture of nasty pleasantness with my responses. Most of my co-workers have long gotten used to me yelling at my computer while I'm either reading or responding to an e-mail, and if you read even 1% of the garbage I get, it would blow your mind to smithereenies.
Deletesomehow by your posts I figured you already had given up on tolerating this behavior years ago haha
ReplyDeleteBearman: With a select group of roughly two dozen people, I do not tolerate this kind of bullshit. I'm just expanding it to encompass everyone else save my immediate co-workers.
DeleteYou know? There are some people who have been SUCH a pain in the ass in my work world when I tried to go out of my way or offer a bit of courtesy that I just completely avoid them now. It's kind of a running joke with one of our partner organizations...like stepping in shit that you can't rub off of your shoe.
ReplyDeleteM: I hear you on that. I have an ungodly percentage of people who are still a pain in my ass and will be until either I go away or they go away. It has gotten to the point where I will dump them off to my supervisor because they are that much of a pain in the ass.
DeleteThis reminds me of my experience working in an office. I'd work my butt off and get so annoyed by people who complained when I couldn't move mountains to get them what they needed. Meanwhile, all around me, people were sitting around doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty much the same way when you work for the guv'ment. People expect you to go above and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond what you're supposed to do, and they are shocked! when you can't.
DeleteGive an inch, they'll take a mile. Every time. Good on you for setting boundaries and defending them.
ReplyDeleteSeems like it's two miles to every inch. It should be a challenge this upcoming year, and the one ground rule that I've already set is that I will not talk about union politics as it pertains to the facility I do payroll for. I have more whiny toddlers there than my other three payrolls combined.
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