Dance, monkey! Dance!
Posted in Work on 08/03/2006 06:57 am by enjanerdI have been trained.
The floor I’m on at work is “secure.” My office faces the glass doors leading into our group’s area. So, when people get locked out, they ring the doorbell. I can’t help it. I look up. Every time, I look up. I don’t even care who is there. I don’t want to go open the door for them. I know if I make eye contact, I will have to get up and open the door. And yet, every time, I still do it.
Every day, at least once a day, usually two to three times, the same person gets locked out. I’ve gotten tired of making small talk with him. He always apologetically tells me, “It’s on my desk.” Yes, I know that. I don’t care. But yes, you’re still going to tell me that. I used to say, “That’s ok.” Or, “No problem.” I no longer converse with him. He has started pulling the handle before I’ve pushed the latch to unlock the door. Like with a car door, this prevents the door from unlocking. This angers me.
It’s not like he doesn’t have pockets. I’ve seen his pants. Pockets, every day. It’s not like everyone else around here doesn’t find some way to manage carrying around one key with them for the entire day. I’ve been locked out once since I’ve started working here. It happens. No big deal. I don’t mind getting up once or twice a day to let people in. It’s disruptive, but not that big a deal. I’ve even gone so far as to fetch one of my coworkers working late one evening because he left his elevator card on his desk when he went downstairs to use his cell phone outside. But that was once, not multiple times a day.
Anyway, new strategy: headphones. I won’t have to listen to him ring the doorbell or anyone else who wants to “talk” to me. Or “give me work” to do. Great plan, huh?