2003-04-19 - 9:39 p.m.

She Was Already Crying

Sometimes I make women cry.  I guess every man can make that a claim.  Usually it is something I say, an off hand remark.  It is not until the tears start flowing that I realize what I said made more of an impact that I expected.  Once I almost made a man cry.  He was a coworker, a really great guy, and he had been screwing up a lot.  He knew I was not happy with the job he had been doing, so he was very proud when he announced to me that he was quitting and going back to college.  When he told me I just looked at him, searched for the right words and then finally after a full minute of silence had passed between us, said, "I'm glad you made a decision."

The corners of his mouth turned down and he struggled to keep from crying.  His eyes watered up, but no tears fell.  The poor guy had been under a lot stress at work and from his family.  I knew in my heart that he was not really going to go back to college, that he was only saying that so that it would look like he was making a positive move.  He really wanted my approval and for me to tell him it was ok. But I couldn't because I was angry that he had put us all in a bad position by screwing up so badly at work.

At that same job I made a woman cry.  She was the new assistant manager and I was training her.  I was explaining the proper way to do some task when I looked up and tears were rolling down her face.  This was her second day at work.  I asked what was wrong and she said she was too old to start learning new things.  She cried a lot.  I think she was entering menopause and I also think that she was a nut case.  But my boss had hired her and I was stuck with her.

Other times I have made women cry because of more personal reasons -- arguments, break ups, and my being an ass (rarely).  But yesterday I didn't actually make a woman cry.  I just happened to be there when she did.

I got a phone call from one of our clients.  Her name is Joyce and she works as an administrator at a nursing home.  Our company services several types of businesses like nursing homes, medical clinics, waffle restaurants, and temp agencies.  Though I work with thousands of people I knew Joyce and recalled helping her in the past.

She called and said she needed help, then her voice choked up like she was about to cry.  I asked her what was wrong and she started to tell me and then stopped again and I could hear her sniffling.  I told her to take her time.  I figured one of their residents had passed away, or one of her coworkers had died.  I have dealt with those calls in the past.  She tried to ask me her question again but got choked up and had to stop.

I told her it was all right, to take a minute and if I could help I would.  Finally she asked me her question.  Without going into the specifics, which I should not do, her question was about the payroll system our company provides.  She had made an entry into the system and now there was not proof that she had ever done it.  Her boss was "writing her up" and was trying to fire her over it.  She knew she had done her job properly but now it looked as if she had not.

I am very familiar with their payroll system and figured out a way to get her proof that she had made the entry.  It was fairly easy for me to do.  But her new boss seemed to have a vendetta against her. She had been working there for 16 years without so much as a complaint and now it looked like she was being railroaded out of there.  She told me that her new boss was out to get her.

I had a feeling that was her situation.  I felt so bad for her.  There she was, doing a job she loves, doing it well, but ultimately stuck under the scrutiny of a crappy manager.  Everything was ok until she got a new boss, and that new boss was trying to fire everyone.

Why?  Is it because her company does not want to pay retirement benefits?  Or they want to replace her with someone at a lower salary?  Who knows.  But her story struck a chord with me because I have been struggling with my own crappy bosses.  And I have seen my sister come home from work angry and frustrated because inept management was mean to her and the other people in her department.

Good management is hard to find.  Good management is hard to do.  It is much easier for a manager to lay the blame elsewhere.  It is almost predictable.  Maybe I should start my own company and be self employed.  But what kind of business?  Hmmm….

On another subject, last November the State of Georgia elected a new Republican Governor and got rid of our State Assembly's Speaker of the House.  The Speaker had been running the State House for over 40 years (which is a record in American politics) and had, basically, kept the government functioning well.  But the residents of Georgia wanted a change.  And boy did they get one.

The Legislative session has been going on and on, way past its normal end date (another record).  The number of new bills passed has been so low they may as well not have been in session at all, and, to top it off, their main concern has been the fucking State flag.  It is embarrassing.  The former State flag had a Confederate battle emblem on it. This caused ire among some Georgians because they did not want what some might call a "pro slavery" icon waving over our state.  Others say the Confederate battle emblem is a part of our State's proud rebel heritage. Sort of an in-your-face to the Yankees.

The flag was changed under the past Governor and that upset all the rednecks.  The new Governor was pretty much elected on a platform of changing the flag back, but as soon as the election was over the new Governor said, "Whoa, now.  I never promised anything."  Because by this time, you see, the Republican President was telling him to simmer down this controversy or the Republicans might come off as racists in the 2004 election.

Our state Government has ground to a halt.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.  But the one man who could have fixed all of this was voted out of office.  Now our state government is going to have to operate like all the other state governments around the country.  And that is too bad.  One of the reasons Georgia had prospered so much in the past few decades, even as other states around us floundered, is because we had an efficient government.  There was just enough corruption to keep the wheels turning, but not enough to embarrass anyone.  The frivolous shit was filtered out and the pork was distributed fairly around the entire state.

I do love my home state.  Over a hundred years ago my family settled in the wilderness here.  Change is not a bad thing.  I just wish it was more organized.

I talked to my friend Dorothy today.  She went to visit a psychic we both know.  She asked the psychic about me and she told her that I was on a roller coaster ride.  She was speaking metaphorically, but she was right.  I really should set an appointment and see her again.  In the past she has predicted things with remarkable accuracy.  She perfectly described the people I am currently working with, and I mean specific physical traits and personalities.

Maybe I can arrange it soon.

Jimmy
 
 

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