Anyone looking to hire a reasonably bright guy, good with computers, decent writer, editor/proofreader? I may be looking for employment. Just before quitting time my supervisor Iris came into my office and closed the door. That's never a good sign. She began telling me about the fallout from my minor outburst during the conference call with our client today. The putz I deal with has a serious problem reading his e-mails and over the past week or so has called me several times complaining about something only to have me inform him that I had e-mailed him about the matter but he didn't bother to read it or else he wouldn't be calling me. For example: last week he called pissing and moaning that I had never sent him a sizing estimate for a new project and the estimate was now overdue. I told him that if he checked his e-mail he would find one from me sent the same day he sent the original sizing request containing questions our analyst needed answered in order to size the project. He responded by yelling that I should have just called him, to which I replied that my supervisor insists we e-mail everything for documentation purposes and that it's not my fault the sizing is overdue, it's his because he doesn't read his e-mails.
Back to today. After a conference call 2 weeks ago during which they admitted making a mistake in the project specs (which resulted in us wasting time creating erroneous reports), I sent them an e-mail explaining what I understood the new specs to be and asking them to please confirm them. Never heard back from them. Last Wednesday, the putz called me asking what was going on with the project and I told him I was still waiting to receive their reply confirming the specs. This morning, while I was away from my desk, he left a message on my voicemail asking me the status of the project. So I forwarded him the e-mail I had forwarded him last Wednesday telling him I'm still waiting for a response of the specs. Over 4 hours later during our conference call he once again asked me the status of the project. I told him that I had sent him an e-mail this morning about it, the same e-mail I sent him last Wednesday, and that he would know the status of the project had he read his e-mails, which he obviously didn't, and that I'm tired of being blamed for missed due dates because of his irresponsibility, and not responsible for him not reading his e-mails. Or something to that affect.
But apparently I went overboard because the client phoned my department head and sent all of my superiors an e-mail saying my comments were "inappropriate" and that I had "embarrassed" him in front of his co-workers and superiors, despite the fact that what I said was 100% fucking accurate. So in the corporate world it doesn't matter if someone is an incompetent tool who can't do their job or be responsible enough to read their e-mails, you can't tell them so. Iris was very cool about it, never telling me I was out of line or wrong; she only said that I have to remember that "they are the client." She also told me not to sweat it but in the future if they don't respond to my e-mails to let her know and she will bring it to the attention of their supervisors. Although this is the 3rd incident involving my 'overzealousness' that my department head has had to deal with (even though I was right each time) and he and I don't see eye to eye to begin with so I'm not feeling any job security right about now. See, I'm right about things, I just don't always go about handling them the 'right' way, at least in corporate America. This 'kinder, gentler' shit is not my bag. If you're a blithering idiot someone should be able to tell you so. But no, you're supposed to bite your tongue and say "oh, I'm sorry you didn't take the time to read my e-mail, my bad. I'll send it to you again." Fuck that. I don't bite my own tongue, I'm a sadist not a masochist. I bite other people's tongues.
So, does anyone have a position to fill (boy is that a loaded question) that doesn't involve dealing with customers? Apparently I don't play too well with others. Especially when they're useless and incompetent. Stay tuned...
Bah, work sucks. One more reason I enjoy working from home. No tools to deal with, at least not in person anyway :)
Posted by: PinkLady | November 28, 2005 at 10:25 PM
I dunno---any good at jewelry design? Willing to work out of my computer room? I could *maybe pay you $5 a week...but, I'll feed you too.
Posted by: Stephanie | November 29, 2005 at 12:54 AM
How's your cooking Steph?
Posted by: Creepy | November 29, 2005 at 11:04 AM
My cooking? Well, I make a mean Tuna Helper. Pretty good at hot dogs and corn too.
Posted by: Stephanie | November 29, 2005 at 08:04 PM