2003-06-21 - 12:33 p.m.

Are You Trying To Get Fired?

Another exhausting week.  These days I get sleepy at 9 p.m..  That's just sad.  The guys in my office are so loud I can't concentrate.  There is a constant din and continuous movement around me.  Normally it is no big deal, but I feel worn down by it.

I think Ben is ready to bolt out the door.   He has been picked on and demoralized since he took the job about 10 months ago. The president and the sales guy have continued to single him out criticize him in what looks like an attempt to get him to quit.  He hasn't told anyone but me that they demoted him, reduced his salary and took away his bonus a few months ago.  I can't remember the reason they did it.  He screwed something up and they found out about it.

Before he was hired the poor guy was built up to be the next baby Jesus. When he got there and started doing the job the way he thought it should be done they jumped on him and told him he was doing it wrong.  Whenever he asked specifically what he should do they would not tell him.  They would only point out things they thought he did wrong.

The other new guy, Viarum, is very depressed.  After four months of working at our company he has already had several confrontations and been jerked around.  He thinks he is going to be fired any day now.  And the president thinks Viarum is going to quit any day now.

This is what happens when bad managers manage.

So Tommy sent an email to us all yesterday asking us to look at a new web page our company is going to put up for a new product.  He sent a link (which did not work) and asked us to go over it and tell him what we think.

When I finally got the correct link and looked at it I was appalled.  It looked ok.  It looked beautiful actually.  The format was nice and clean.  It was well balanced.  But the content was horrible.  As soon as I started reading it I knew that our company president must have written it.  It was incomprehensible.

I read all the time. I read fiction, nonfiction, newspapers, magazines, diaries and even cereal boxes.   Even as a child I scored well in reading comprehension on standardized tests.  But I could not make heads or tails of the very first sentence in the product description.  It made no sense.  There were made up phrases like "uniquely patented" and "tremendous value add."

When Tommy came in I told him I had read it and asked him if the president wrote it.  He said yes, that it was horrible.  That is why he wanted our opinion on it.  Because it was embarrassing and he did not want to post it on our site, but he couldn't do anything about it since the president wrote it.

So I looked it over again.  I tried to, anyway.  I know how much our president values honesty so I wrote a quick email response pointing out everything I found wrong with the site. I mentioned the made up phrases and explained that it sounded like double talk.  I asked what the intention of the site was and strongly urged a rewrite.

Well, about 10 minutes after I sent the email the Irish fellow ran down to my office and said, "Are you trying to get fired?  You do know Tommy didn't write that content."  I said I knew that.  It looked like something the president wrote.  I think the Irish fellow thought my reply was very strongly worded and potentially insulting.  I didn't care.

About 5 minutes later another guy came down the hall and quietly said, "I completely agree with you.  That site needs to be rewritten by a professional writer.  Only I didn't send my reply back to everyone in the company like you did."

About 10 minutes later David came down to my office and said, "Wow.  I would ask you to proof read my novel but I don't think I could take the beating."  Ha, ha.  I actually did proofread a friend's novel once and I gave her my honest opinion.  She still calls it her novel which I hate.

About 15 minutes later John came down and said it was nice working with me

Since it was Friday the president was not in the office. So he won't see my reply until Monday.  It is not possible that he is so fragile.  Talk about the Emperor's new clothes.  No one in the company would tell him how badly written it is.

Don't ask for my opinion if you don't want to hear it.

Everyone agreed that the president's response will probably be "Well, you're so smart, you write it!"  To which I will reply, "Isn't that what we hired you for?"  I don't think he will find that funny.

No, I'm not trying to get fired.  I have just reached the point where my tolerance is gone.  When people meet me they think of me as an easy going, laid back guy.  And it is true, I watch other people and am quite content to let them all make their own mistakes.  I don't fight with people about what I think is right or wrong because most decisions come down to personal preference anyway.  Just because I don't prefer a certain thing does not mean others shouldn't prefer it.

I have a huge amount of patience.  But it is not a limitless amount.

The reaction I got from my short email reminded me of what they say about dysfunctional families.  When the mom or dad has a drinking problem all the kids have to pretend everything is all right.  It is, as the saying goes, as though there is a giant pink elephant in the middle of the room and no one will acknowledge it.  And that was the reaction I got.  "I can't believe you pointed out the obvious."

It made me feel happy knowing that I caused a stir.  Go ahead. Ask me about it.  What's the big deal?  Better you hear it from me than from one of our potential clients.

The Irish fellow also keeps mentioning the things I said to Tommy earlier in the week.  We were having Tommy's birthday cake in the conference room.  He turned 30 the other day.  Tommy was going on about how any guy can get laid when he wears a tuxedo, one of his normal rants about nothing.  And I said, "So you're saying chicks dig the maitre d'?" After everyone laughed I said, "Yeah, who gets more tail than magicians?"

It was just one of our normal back and forth nonsensical interactions.  But the Irish fellow thought I had just cut Tommy to the quick.  I think he has not spent much time around me, so he was surprised when we did our normal verbal sparring.

Tommy inspires a lot of reaction.  When he walks into a room and there is a conversation going on he will stand directly in between the two people talking and take over.   It sounds like a joke, but he really and truly does it.  If he does not like the topic he will say something provocative to change the topic.  He starts debates about subjects he knows nothing about.  When he finds himself in the middle of it and realizes he is debating an expert he backpedals and rearranges his position.  It is incredible to watch.

I really like Tommy a lot.  I can't help it.  He makes so many people angry and jealous.  It is like watching a show.  He does not fool me for a moment.  And he knows he doesn't.  He knows that I get it.  It's all just a game he plays.  Why not?  There is no malice intended.  Even the few times he acted like an ass to me I jumped on him attacked him right away and he was fine with it.  I know the tactics he uses and I know how to turn them back on him.

I do an imitation of him that is eerie.  Even I'm surprised at how real it sounds.

My next improv class starts on Monday.  I can't wait.  This is the Level 2 class.  I don't know what that means exactly.   Maybe it will be harder.  Maybe it just means no one is a beginner.  It is a short class, only 6 weeks long.  So that means my next show will be at the beginning of August.  Hmmm.  My aunt is arranging a cruise for my family.  It may be at about that time.  I hope I don't have to miss my next graduation show.

I am hooked.  I love being in front of an audience.  More, more, more, I say.

Jimmy
 

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