Thursday, December 22, 2005

Strange but True

So many coworkers hate going to the Christmas Party that we recieved a memo stating
that failure to attend would be punishable by loss of a weeks pay. In my particular case three managers gave me a personal message. I have a long drive and placing the holiday so close to drive time is rude.

On a related note my boss is a great guy and a genius. I have an elaborate system on my desk of piles. Somehow he figured out my system and I am at a loss. My inbound cases were taken to train new contractors. He pointed that pile is fresh cases and that requires a legal opinion and that area on the right is ready to go. Clear everything on the right yesterday as the security people are short of work.

I am amazed at how many of my coworkers dread the holiday party . If it were up to the guys there would be no party. I was surprised that my area has become hot real estate and plenty of people seek to move there. Our area is known as a comedy area
because we have about four guys in six cubes joking about local topics. The latest
joke was my running to hear what I thought was the sound of a Moose. Sadly it was not a Moose but poorly maintained equipment next door. Mr Moose visited and left a reminder of his visit in the parking lot.

I was surprised that the two vacant cubes were claimed before they were vacated. There were at least ten claims as people like to be in a fink free zone. In fact this was not always the case but a cute young clerical was upset when a more senior
caseworker bumped her out. In our area there is zero snobery between caseworkers and clericals. The caseworker was a great addition but she left to be closer to home. Amazingly another senior caseworker claimed the spot but she is leaving for Boston.
Nice lady but she was kind of vanilla but enjoyed the comedy. I can not be bumped out due to seniority as caseworkers are never moved. I was surprised at how popular the area was with female staffers. It seems that only a few vocal angry people get upset about guys talking about sport,local life and very mild jokes about our cases.
Miss PC applied but I informed the others that I would move out if she moved in. Her seniority prevented that from being an issue. No doubt my request to leave would be met with another of her endless stream of grievences. Interestingly, of the 100 plus
all 100 were against male coworkers. Now since only about 60% of the coworkers are male there is an obvious pattern. Sadly HR puts the blame on guys talking about sports or sexist terms like use your cocanut. Maybe, the problem is that Miss PC doesn't understand the way men interact and should go through some sensitivity training herself.

The conclusion is that a surprising number of women enjoy and find the light attmosphere refreshing. Guys being themselves, clean humor and a fink free zone are popular. All of us enjoy coming to work and morale is not low in our area.

8 comments:

Warren said...

Duck, talk broken English. Him so smert.. er smart.

Anonymous said...

If they wanted people to come they should have sprung for an "open bar".

-FJ

beakerkin said...

Duck it is easy to find you at a Christmas party. Just check where everybody is walking away. You are such a bore .

Jason Pappas said...

Have a great Christmas, Beak, and hoped you had a good Hanukah. Come back to New York and we’ll celebrate Fetivus, too! I told my boss that since I converted, I was taking the week off for Kawanza. He didn’t buy it the "converted" part. I wonder why.

Always On Watch said...

Warren,
LOL. Couldn't help myself.

Beak,
What a pathetic excuse for a Christmas party it must be if the threat of loss of pay has to be used to get people to attend! No open bar, then?

Jason,
One of my clients sends me a Kwanzaa card every year. I find that peculiar, but haven't said anything.

Jason Pappas said...

The wife just informed me that Hanukah, this year, is after Christmas. I'll have to ask my landlord why he had the whole menorah lit. In any case, enjoy the holidays.

AOW, I never say anything. You never know what it means to the other person. Many people just like a holiday … especially if it comes with gifts and days off. But I’m tired of people who are too sensitive. It’s a time of year for good will, and I assume the best on an individual basis until proven otherwise.

beakerkin said...

Jason I am in NYC presently taking a break from six below. I am still at a loss to describe how I made the trip in slightly over five hours with a stop in Albany.

I was surpised so many people left the party earlier. I told my boss I would not have come if there were no mandatory meeting. I would have left for NYC at 5AM.

I am still trying to get the illogic of my coworkers who seemed to think my driving outfit was lifted from the set of the film the
Quiet Man.

Esther said...

Daniel Pipes totally gets it on terrorism. On social issues.... well, we part company.

Mandatory holiday party? Egads.

Beak, have an AWESOME Hanukah and New Year. Personally, I usually perfer to work with guys. Less BS and bickering. Not so true at the moment. My male boss is a total boob.