So, this chick at work bugs me. A LOT. She's always bossing me around, unnecessarily. On stuff I already know how to do. She's totally unaware of how condescending she comes across.
The insanity is that she's NOT the boss of me; we're technically equal on the hierarchy. Plus, she doesn't quite have her bachelor's degree. Get my drift? So, the challenge is picking my battles, and I'm learning that she's simply OCD, anal and can't let little things go.
For example, I said that I would drop off a UPS package one evening, but then forgot. It didn't have to go out that day per se, but she sent me a scathing little reminder of how we should be careful to do what we say we are going to do. Okay... duh. My bad. Today I made a data entry error and this is what she emailed me:
"Allison, I had to go back in the spreadsheet to fix the below error. Please be careful and double check statements you enter for typing errors. You entered 20,044 instead of 20,004,095. We all make mistakes and it’s best to catch them/fix them early before uploading."
True. Everything she said is true. But we enter so much data, that one entry is not a big deal. I've often fixed her mistakes without saying anything. Because there are systems in place to catch them, and because I don't want to draw attention to her mistakes. So, there is the difference between us. Sigh... Last Sunday I spoke on the 10th Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Covet," so technically I shouldn't be coveting other peoples' co-workers. Hmmm... I will conquer.
Do you have co-workers that make you crazy? Now or in the past? What did they do? Did you resolve anything? Strategies for dealing with it? Clearly, the 'ol let it roll off yer back, be a duck thing is not working for me. Today at least. Maybe it will tomorrow. Oh, and we've already had a mediated conversation if you can believe that! It did not go well. She freaked out. But I was just asking her to lay off the demoralizing kindergarten approach to our job... didn't register... watcha gonna do?
4 comments:
Oh that's so hard! Gregor always says work is the easy part, it's the people that are the hard part. I once had the most horrible boss. The only solution was walking out one day. But your approach and attitude sound better :) If someone can't get along with Allison, something is seriously wrong with them.
Oh, I feel for you. There is nothing more miserable than spending most of your waking hours with difficult co-workers. I am fortunate that I like all my current co-workers. But one day we should have a chat about someone I worked with several years ago. Let me just say that I feel your pain. But I echo Amy's comment: "if someone can't get along with Allison, something is seriously wrong with them." Amen.
Um -- I think that I'm the one that bugs my current PhD class. I also think I'm the one that bugs my immediate family. Hmmmm. Maybe I need a mediated intervention... What do you do when you are the one that drives everyone else crazy?
Oh wow.... that's a toughy!
A few years ago at Music Celebrations I had a co worker who has gastric bypass and then brought all her pre-bypass "fat clothes" to me. That was a real pi$$er.
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