February 16th, 2005
Hark, who goes there!
Yesterday I was sitting at a different computer than I normally do. I was told to go there because I had finished the work on my computer and this one still had editing to be done on it. It was someone else’s computer, but because she had not shown up and had not called in to let them know she’d be a no-show (which I found out was a regular practice) they gave the work to me; someone who showed up on time and was willing.
Around 12:30, I saw Tiffany (the real “owner” of the station I was at) walk in. She must have seen me out of the corner of her eye and proceeded to casually walk straight back to Nancy’s office without clocking in. Roughly 5 minutes later I saw her walk back through the room and to the front door. She walked out and did not return.
A woman who was sitting behind me came up to my station later that day and we talked about Tiffany some. She already knew that Tiffany hardly ever came to work, and I made a comment about how the work she did do was crappy (I had not known where she left off, so I had to start at the beginning with my editing, and I found there were still allot of missed mistakes – way more than would of been missed had she really been trying). The woman (whose name I can’t remember for the life of me) said that Tiffany might have been fired, and honestly, I’d probably guess the same. Not that firing means all that much, since the job we all share only lasts until this Friday… but fired nonetheless.
For a moment, I felt good. I felt good that *I* was the one who was chosen to take up the slack of a lazy employee – as if that in and of itself made me a better employee. But, then, I also had a twinge of guilt… because I have been in Tiffany’s position one too many times. One particular time when I went to meet a teacher at Radford after having missed *tons* of classes, and actually having the nerve to think he’d let me catch up 3 months worth of work. As I had approached his office, I saw him walk out of it, close the door, make eye contact with me, and walk down the hallway in the opposite direction. I was left stopped in my tracks, watching him walk down the hallway and turn the corner… leaving me standing there. I later realized he was intending to not be there when I arrived, but instead I got to watch him leave and walk away as if he didn’t know who I was. Thinking now, I imagine that is what I must have looked like to Tiffany while sitting at her computer. Even if you’ve done a crappy job, the realities of punishment can sometimes be too harsh, deserving or not.
So, yes, I’m alive. I’ve had a temp job at Division Data Center since the 7th and it ends this Friday. I plan on getting a little buddy-buddy with Nancy (the project leader) and talk to her about Access some – see if that gets me any brownie points for future job opportunities there. I also dinged 60 yesterday in my little online game, World of Warcraft. I have been making a 1/2 assed attempt at making a layout for the past month. So, yeah, I’m very much alive… just annoyingly and distantly busy.