"It's a long road
And you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold"
-"Hero" by Mariah Carey
Late Posting: I went to bed last night knowing that I had not posted for the day (unlike a previous time where I just plain forgot). I wanted to think more fully about the day before I tried to write about it. I think I just needed some distance from everything that has happened recently and it seemed to culminate yesterday in a near "altercation" with a staff member. I'm getting better at facing uncomfortable situations and outwardly I don't think anyone realizes just how uncomfortable I am. But internally the physical sensations are awful! I get nauseous, I feel as if my temperature has gone up twenty degrees and my blood is boiling. I feel a mixture of discomfort and anger building because I realize that the other person is the one causing me to feel this way and the reason I'm struggling is because their reactions (and actions) are not normal or logical. There is more to this story, let me start from the beginning...
"I Don't See Why I Need to Be There": This is the response a staff member gave another person when they asked them if they would like to sit in on a meeting related to a project they had assisted with. This was there "polite" way of saying "no" to the request. I explained to the other person that since they had actually couched it as an invitation and not a requirement, then we really couldn't say anything about it. Next time, I said, make sure you just say they are expected to be there and leave it at that. If they want to argue then, well, we could argue. The next issue came when I needed to make some changes in scheduling and I told my aide to contact the person to make them aware of the switch. I was already having a bad day when this was happening, so keep in mind that my next decisions were impacted by my mood. The person told my aide that they were busy working on a project so they couldn't have their schedule switched. What project? I didn't know of any project they were working on. And even so, I wasn't taking away an hour from them - just switching them to another slot. I almost went to the person and said, I don't care what you are working on, you didn't put in a request to have that specific hour off, so you need to switch your schedule to accommodate our emergency. But I realized that in the mood I was in, this would not have gone over well. So instead, I let it slide and covered the desk shift myself. But I did realize that I needed to remind everyone of the requirements we have for asking for time off of the desk, and also asked all of my staff to send me a list of their current projects. Obviously I didn't know what everyone was doing if they had a project that needed to be done at a certain time.
So Then: So this all let to yesterday where I got a request from an administrator for assistance with a project. It wasn't the normal project we took care of, but we tend to be a department that does whatever needs to be done, even if it doesn't seem to fit with the vibe of our department. Knowing that this person, though methodical to a high level, would be the best fit, I volunteered them to the administrator, and then went to tell the person that they would be assisting on a project. They proceeded to try to challenge the request, asking me what the connection was (one of the other people involved is an administrator at the Downtown campus), and kept saying, even after I explained the project, that they didn't see what the connection was. Then they asked who they would be working with and I again told them that it would be the administrator (as I had already said). I even gave them the courtesy of asking if they felt it was something they could help me (which could have been a mistake, since I don't know what I would have said if they had said "no"). They finally shrugged as if to say "whatever" and I let the administrator know that they were on-board. The attitude of this person is the real issue. We are a department that is part of a library that is part of a university, and we all must work together. I don't care where the projects come from, we work for the university so any project related to the university is fair game. If they don't like it, then they should really start looking for another job. I'm at the point where I now realize that the department would be better off without this person, but I know that my job is to work with them to try to improve their attitude and get them on board with how we work as a unit. I just think this person is set in their ways and will do anything they can to make my job harder than it needs to be. Why are there people like that in the world?
On a Lighter Note: I did get up enough energy to make some St. Patty's Day themed cupcakes in the morning. I treated it like the cupcakes war challenge and wanted to see if I could bake a set of cupcakes (and bake them well) in a short amount of time. What I discovered was that I not only could bake a set of cupcakes in under 45 minutes, but I could also take a shower, get ready for work, cook the cupcakes, ice them, and get to work at my normal time. I didn't have time to do anything really interesting for St. Patty's Day, so I settled for just making the cupcakes green and the icing green. Easy enough with a vanilla cake and plain buttercream. My goal for next time is to find a way to color the icing and cake more naturally, and not have to resort to the fake stuff. But it didn't seem to impact the taste!
 |
| Pastel green icing |
 |
| A look at the inside! |
No comments:
Post a Comment