Dec 12, 2006

Merry Christmas to Most



Sometimes you see a crazy person do something that is funny and you have to laugh. Some people, dare I say most people, think it is wrong to laugh at what a crazy person does because they can't help themselves. But I'm not some people. Funny is funny. I appreciate that being crazy is no laughing matter, but I think it is possible to find humor without belittling a person, so I am going to go ahead and tell you a story.

This morning I had to go to the dermatologist's office to have my leprosy checked out. I don't really have leprosy, but my real condition is hard to remember, so I go with Hansen's disease (leprosy).

On the way back to work, I realized that I hadn't eaten yet today and since I am always vigilant for signs of hypoglycemia or other food deficiency-related matters, I stopped at a supermarket, to get a snack. Okay, that was a load, but I was hungry.

My snack became a meal, but that's another story. As I waited to pay I noticed that the manager of the store was a giant of a man, maybe 6 foot 10 or taller. Or as medical professionals say, really tall. Since there aren't that many giants around, I figured that I better go over and read his name tag to see if he was formerly famous or anything.

I approached him and from a discreet distance tried to make out the name on his tag. I squinted my best and as I did, a fellow dressed like Elmer Fudd hunting ducks, barrelled up and started asking if the giant was the manager. When he affirmed that he was, the guy launched into a rant, the crux of which was that there was a man talking to him outside the store who wouldn't stop. Plus, he added, the guy was wishing him a Merry Christmas. The monster! He went on to say that he had asked an employee of the store earlier to make the guy stop, but the fellow persisted. The guy in question was the Salvation Army bell-ringer. The incident ended when the manager went out and told the bell-ringer not to talk to the guy. The poor bell-ringer seemed confused, but promised to go forth and greet no more, at least with respect to this guy.

In other news the son of a coworker had a brain aneurysm a couple of weeks ago. He is just 25 years-old. He has been in a brain injury hospital in another city for the last couple of weeks and will have a long period of recovery. My coworker has had to be with him because it has been touch and go.

This morning I had to go see the boss and when I walked into his office, he was talking to her on the phone. He was in the middle of explaining to her that she had used all her vacation and was not being paid for the time off. This adds insult to injury, if you ask me. If the poor woman was at her desk she would be paid, so what is the difference? Some of us will have to cover her work anyway. Twenty years working for the company and she get zero consideration when she needs it. Ain't corporate America grand?

Since I overheard the conversation, my boss felt the need to tell me that as much as he would like to pay her, he just can't, we have rules afterall. That is crappola. All he has to do is to fill out her timesheet and no one will be any the wiser at headquarters.

There are leaders and then there are bosses. It is the rare person that is both.

Merle.






Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgemental and cranky


Tag:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Tell it like it is!