clouds of jupiter

 

your prescription filled

While talking to my boss this morning, I suddenly felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and for a moment or two it was a mystery to me as to who was behind them. At first all that I knew was that they belonged to a woman, but it couldn't be my buddy Nicole because she had went home sick. Nor was it Ann since it was her day off. It wasn't until I turned around that I realized that it was Donna.

I guess that we're supposed to get together for some one on one training for the new software package that our department will be using. As usual I have mixed feelings when it comes to working with Donna, because her superior attitude always strikes me as silly.

...

After work my boss took the third shift crew out to eat and while we ate we discussed a few issues about the department. I guess that this was to be expected and it didn't bother me. In fact I actually felt good about work when we left the restaurant. Maybe it was the time of day, but suddenly everything seemed postive again. Of course being treated to a free meal is a nice way to end a day at work.

...

I have a feeling that I often come across as being an insensitive ass here, but when it comes to someone that is important to me I get pretty emotional.

When I walked into work, Ann was very quiet so I gave her some room. I know her well enough to know when something is bothering her and I don't feel the need to pry. Then she handed me a piece of paper to read and I knew why she was so upset.

In the memo that she handed me, she had been insulted by someone from another department. To make a long story very very short, what the person had said to her probably shouldn't have been said and I did my best to make her feel better. She was so hurt that she wanted to quit and I could see the tears welling up in her eyes as she told me all of the things that had been bothering her this past week.

I kept trying to minimize the comment as best I could, but I could tell that it wasn't working. I even asked her what could I say to make her feel better and she said nothing.

Through various incidents Ann has become more and more isolated within our department and I don't think that the trend is going to stop. One might even go so far as to call her a pariah. She just can't seem to win with some of the people in the company and I truly feel for her. I'm not saying that just because I was and still am attracted to her.

Quite honestly she is a very bright girl with just a few personal problems that spill every so often into her professional life. As to whether or not her role at the company is doomed, I can't say. What I do know is that I would really miss her if she left and I told her so.

Eventually I got her to stop wanting to cry and had her laughing by the time that she left.

...

Sadly most of what Ann says about her place in the department is true and I wish that it wasn't. Very few of our peers take her seriously. Some of them found her abrasive before she was pregnant and now they feel that that condition just seems to enhance the mood swings that she exhibited before.

She said that she was very close to walking out and I believe her.

...

I try to support her the best that I can, but at the same time there is only so much that I can do. For example last week we had been discussing some changes that could be made in our department. She was afraid to bring them to our boss, because she said that he would dismiss them. I didn't believe her and submitted them to him saying that the ideas were hers.

He liked the ideas, but all of his replies were sent to me and not her. Sigh.

Maybe she would be better off somewhere else. The business world is never kind and once a pecking order gets established it is very hard to break.

 
yesterday | index | tomorrow | one year ago