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I received the following email today:
I have to get this rant off my chest, but I know some people at work read my blog and I can’t take that risk. Would you mind publishing this? You should identify that it is a guest writer, who wishes to remain anonymous but who must get this out.
If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I just thought I’d ask. I’m pissed about this and for some reason, want the blog world to know!
Thanks!
Friend Who Wishes to Remain Anonymous
Of course I want to publish it! I also encourage anyone else who wants to write a guest post to send them my way.
Without further ado…
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There is a man at work who reminds me VERY much of Dwight from The Office. You must also combine Michael’s passions for quoting, teaching people lessons they don’t need, and pointing out his commitment to diversity to have a complete picture of how annoying he is. Everything he does has a “canned” feel to it. He tries telling jokes. They’re all very old and they are very stale. I think they all came from Milton Berle as this man does not create. He steals. It’s bad.
I have not only been his target many, many times, but I have had people come to me and share their concerns about this individual and how he has interacted with them. I will present one of the lesser offenses. This one happened to me, but is a great example of how this individual communicates.
When I first started work at this office, I commented on how glad I was that it was Friday. This guy made a HUGE production about how I should not proclaim Friday as superior to any other day and how the vibe I’m sending out over my preferential treatment of Friday is unhealthy. He told me that people will sense how I feel and that no one is making me work there, so if I can’t treat Mondays and Fridays the same, I should go some where else to work. It was a HUGE deal. Huge as in the conversation probably lasted 5 minutes. Huge as in he blasted me, the new kid, in front of everyone in the office. Huge as in he made it into a major conflict. I was stunned. Wouldn’t you be?
This man is not all bad. Let me rephrase. This man is clever. He does a good job, for the most part. He is actually great to be around in small spurts, before you really get to know him. He says and does things that others in the company tell me about that are NOT good for our office, but whatever. Going through me isn’t really complaining. If you want action taken, you should go through my boss, right? In front of the bosses, he is a model employee. He is Jekyll and Hyde. Occasionally the things he’s done ARE alarming and I think if the boss knew he would have major concerns. No. I know he’d have major concerns.
Recently a group of men and one woman were on a flight to our headquarters. Icky was with them. When they landed, my boss said, “I have rented a van if you guys want to ride with us.” They all agreed. The woman got into the back of the van and men all started giving reasons they couldn’t ride in the rear. “I get car sick!” Ick said, “I have a bad back!” so John said, “I’ll ride in the back with Angela.” Once the van pulled out, John said, “I’m happy to be back here. I’m riding next to the best looking person in the van!” (Ha, ha… laugh, laugh) Then Ick replied, “She may be better looking, but I’m a better kisser!”
He is almost sixty. That’s just freakin’ weird.
He told us that the meeting we were in had better end quickly. His wife wanted to have another baby and if he wasn’t home by 5 she was going to start without him.
He is almost SIXTY. He has grandkids. His wife is his age. Weird!!! And not funny. Borrowing Henny Youngman jokes is simply NOT funny.
I get frustrated with shoddy work or with stupidity. I get frustrated when things aren’t done with consideration. Once I don’t “approve” of how you operate, my method of coping is to limit my contact with you. I’m not going to try and teach you a lesson; you’re grown and you’re not going to change because of me. I simply distance myself and limit our interactions. If dislike grows to distrust, I try to block you out completely from anything personal. I’ve never met anyone I couldn’t work with, but I’ve met several I don’t want to work with. There is a difference. I cope by not “turning on” until the topic is about work. Then, I’m all smiles. For reasons I cannot understand, some people can’t operate like this.
Now, he’s gone and made it personal.
Friday I parked in a reserved spot. You can receive tickets if you park in a reserved spot. This is, rarely but occasionally, a risk I am willing to take. Around the office on Friday we had a skeleton crew and no guests, so we had many, many unused reserved spots. I parked in one.
When I was leaving the office I was flagged down by a security guard who told me that I should watch out, someone is trying to get me. I said, “What?” and she explained that Icky had asked two different security guards to ticket “the car”- everyone knows it’s my car- that was parked illegally. He is ratting me out to the cops! I was livid. Wouldn’t you be?
This guy is the kind of guy they’re going to discover has bodies buried in the backyard. I’m not kidding. I know I am on his hit list. Also this week I was told about some extravagant story he told some co-workers about me- all with the point of making me look like I was wicked. I think it’s come to a head.
I will confront him on Monday. The confrontation needs to be professional and pointed. What are your ideas?
