LOL!!! I'm a developer and work with a great bunch of guys. We get along well and always goof on each other but not alot and it's always light-hearted. Anyway, anyone who has a 9 to 5 job usually has these weekly meetings to discuss status reports, technical stuff, work requests, etc. . Typically, those meetings are pretty boring, alot of the same stuff gets said countless times, and people phase in and out of consciousness. To break up the monotony, at various times and only occassionally, several of us tend to spontaneously throw out a one-liner so everyone can break from the serious conversation and laugh. After all...people who take work to seriously all the time go insane after awhile. More often than not....there may be some kind of problem or something going on that was brought up and really noone can be blamed for. Even if someone is to blame, finger pointing is a big no-no in business as it tends to cascade and create animosity. So, anyway, we're in this technical meeting and there is this issue were trying to work out. The air is thick with tenseness and you could cut it with a knife. These types of situations happen all the time. Usually, there is a moment of silence where everyone is dumbfounded at the situation and noone has anything to say...aka an awkward moment. Out of most of the great people I work with...someone would usually break the severity and silence by saying, "...and we all know....IT'S BOB'S FAULT" ....in which case, everyone would laugh including Bob. Well, I am a known joker at work and I can't stand people who are serious all of the time(just keep away from me). Well, sometimes we have people in our meetings that come weekly but we don't work directly with them. He just happens to need to be at the meeting to keep informed of the goings-on. We will call this guy "Roger". Everyone was talking about an "issue" and I broke the air by saying "IT'S JOE'S FAULT". Mind you...I wasn't even remotely referring to this guy. Well, the people that work closely together, even my manager, laughed out loud when it was said. The other people who don't work directly with us didn't really laugh as much or I didn't really notice. Well, this Roger person occassionally talks in the meeting and he may have said something prior to that...as did others. So, most got a good laugh and the meeting ended....no big whoop. Well, the next day, this Roger person comes over and starts talking to one of my fellow co-workers. Apparently, he was upset about everyone laughing and SOMEHOW...I HAVE NO CLUE HOW...he seemed to think everyone was laughing at him. He started raising this concern to my fellow co-worker about how he didn't understand why everyone was laughing(like he didn't get it) and somehow thought everyone was laughing at him. Then, he went on to mention my name as if I said something at him which wasn't even the case at all. I happened to hear him say my name and hear him talking negatively about me as he didn't know I was right next door . So, I got up and went over and confronted him on it. I nicely discussed whatever his issue was and cleared the air but I'm not sure if he still didn't think everyone was "out to get him". To say the least, I was completely dumbfounded by it all. I said my peace, he seemed to understand that we like to lighten serious moments by goofing around and sometimes on others, and that everyone gets that(except for him of course). So, I take it to be this guy is really, really sensitive....so sensitive that he can take comments that aren't directed to him and interpret them to be against him. The fact that he was talking about me behind my back and inferring negative things about me bothered me because that stuff flows around the grapevine. When it's not even true, that it even came up was really weird. I discussed it with some of my co-workers after he left and they had no clue what he was talking about nor did I. So, we just brushed it off as him being overly sensitive and too serious in nature. I don't have a thing against the guy and like the person although I don't really know him. But, now I will probably be overly conscious about joking around when he is in the room. Truth be told...the guy didn't have a leg to stand on when he was berating me to my co-worker and that kind of bothered me. Furthermore, I tend to go out of my way to compliment my co-workers when they do good work. I even send e-mails to my boss and copy my co-worker if they do good work going so far as to clearly specify in detail the good deed. My co-workers really appreciate that and noone does that for me(maybe once or twice) while I consistently point out their good deeds. I even do that for people in other groups and their bosses. So, you can see how I was taken back by what this person was saying. Anyway, I let it go and we all decided this guy is way too sensitive...especially about things that have nothing to do with him. I'm not sure if he has just been wronged in the past or what? But, I will give the person the benefit of the doubt that he made a mistake in judgement, I cleared up his confusion, and I have moved on. I get the feeling he lost some sleep over this, though, and there is absolutely no reason why he should of. The real reason I bring this up is I see SO MANY spats at work that are way more serious. People tend to say things against other people in their presence and it boils over. Then, a ripple effect filters down through the rest of the group and/or unit. It can get really out of hand...unlike my experience. Even though it is taboo to finger point, it does happen and it does get out of hand. I've seen it from upper management down to the lowest level of worker. Do any of you have any good stories about such a scenario? Have you ever been involved in such a dilemma...either instigator or victim? Have you ever had an overly sensitive person like this who misinterprets things that are said to be directed against him? Don't worry...I'm not being overly sensitive but I know all about the grapevine and, in cubicle environments, connected cubes can overhear stuff like that and the talk/rumours spread like wildfire. I would be pissed if the grapevine had my name and some lie floating around on it. Just curious of your experiences. Surf
I've had a few run-ins. Never my fault, just the way things work out. At one past job, the head tech was going on vacation for two weeks. I'd only been working there for about 2 months -- newest employee by at least 1 year. I was also the youngest. Well, when the head tech went on vacation, the owner needed someone to fill in that role temporarily. Everyone else got passed up in favor of the youngest, newest employee. I was worried that the older, veteran guys would be kindof pissed off, and I told the owner "I really don't want to do it", but he insisted. Well the guy who should've gotten the job on seniority was pretty PO-ed about it. He went around with a real chip on his shoulder all day, even yelling at me a few times. I knew it was because of the job thing. It's not like I got paid more . . . it was really just an ego thing. At the end of the day we sat down and talked about the situation and it was all cool. We're still good friends now.
this one chic i worked with wanted to kill me... i just dont know why. im such a nice reasonable girl.
I've won 4 national championships in NCAA 2002...Major's won none. A good reason to vote for me in the upcoming tournament match up.
