The Cubicle Chronicles: Part 6

The Meeting Dilemma...

Hello everyone. It's been a while since I've blogged, because I've been bogged down with a lot of work for the last couple of weeks. I've been working through my lunches and bringing work home in the evenings. The others in the office have plans to work on the 4th of July, while I plan to stay at home and do a little. I never thought that I'd see the day when we Uncle Leroy workers would work on a holiday. It's not natural.

Let me give you a quick update on my last blog entry. That co-worker who had so much to say about single people also has a lot to say about married people. According to her, eveybody's marriages are dysfunctional and in shambles. Everybody is miserable. Blah, blah, blah. I'd walk away when she'd badtalk people, because I didn't want them to think that I condoned her one-upman speeches. She even went on to accuse another co-worker of sexually harassing her. Friends have told me that they were surprised that I was suprisingly calm when she read me "the single women are so pitiful speech." But you know you have to be that way with people who are not right mentally. So I let that friendship cool altogether and fall by the wayside.

Today, I'll use my blog to let off some steam. Yesterday, my bosses (the boss and the deputy) called me in to find out why I wasn't attending the meetings. Yeah. I've been absent. But I was at work alright. Let me explain. There are two types of workers. There are the meeting mavens and then there are the worker bees. Guess which category I fit in? Yeah. I'm a worker bee. I can't stand attending meaningless meetings that waste my time when I can be getting work done. Many times nothing gets accomplished in these meetings. Folks love to hear themselves talk. I can only work on but so many sudoku puzzles off to the side to keep from falling asleep. *sigh*

For the last month, I've been asked to develop decision papers regarding legal matters for senior management. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm suppposed to give my recommendations from a policy person's perspective. Assignments always scare me at first. I wonder whether I can handle it. Next, I deal with the fact that it needs to get done by the deadline. And then, I come to a point of almost enjoying working on it. It always happens in those steps. But in between all of this, what really works my nerves is when people keep bothering me when I'm trying to get my work done. Yeah, we're shortstaffed, but that's not my problem. I'm not the supervisor and I'm not the one who didn't plan for how the excess work would be handled. It's not that I don't care. It's just that I don't "get paid" to care.

So as I said, my supervisors really peeved me a bit by calling me in like I'm sitting over at my desk chilling. The meeting request seemed to suggest that I wasn't doing this, that, and the other. So in preparation for the meeting, I brought a stack of papers showing everying that I've completed in the last couple of weeks. When I went through the stack, all they could do was sit there and look silly. I covered all of my bases, and crossed every "t" and dotted every "i." I document everything. They really don't know me. But since they called me in, I decided to air my complaint of them in a "nice" way. I had to explain to these operations people that policy writing isn't a microwave type of process. It takes a lot of time. So I'd appreciate if they'd leave me alone so that I can complete the work. Then I reminded them that their boss (my boss' boss) gave me that assignment. I can't apply for enough jobs or go on enough interviews at this point. Micromanagement sucks.

Well, I've got to get ready for work. Everyone have a great day!!! :-)