You know you’re in trouble at work when your co-workers don’t talk to you. On the flip side, you know you’re part of the group when they get you in on their jokes, or when you sometimes become the brunt of them. Perhaps these two statements seem a little on the contradictory side. And in reality, they are, unless you work where I do.
The people I work with I spend a lot of time with each other, in a very close-quarters work environment. You add to that the night shift, even though working the night shift is exactly the same job, is almost a totally different environment than the day shift. So I, coming from day shift for the last two years, am a little bit of an outsider. At least that’s the way it feels. And relationships with people who I really haven’t seen in the past two years are approached with a little trepidation and even a little caution. But here am I am.
So we were at work, filing some paperwork. In this office we generate mountains of paperwork. It’s ridiculous really. Working with a computer system that was labeled as “paperless” has proven to be anything but that. So we are filing some paperwork and find that a file is missing. Now, we know this file as created the night before, by us, and there is no real reason for this file to be missing. So the search begins. There are 6 drawers worth of files to look through, and we searched every one of them. All through the process, one of my co-workers kept asking me, “Hey, is that file on your desk?” It was more of a joke, than anything else, but for the first couple of times I made a point of looking through the various places this elusive file might have been. After answering no the first couple of times, I sent some people on a little hunt for the missing file, and after that quite honestly I didn’t give it much more thought.
About an hour later, I was sitting at my desk, and noticed the errant paperwork still sitting on the desk. So I made the general comment that we would need to create a duplicate file, since the other had disappeared. About the same time, one of my co-workers had walked by, and made the off-hand comment about the file being right in front of my face. I looked in the file organizer in front of me, and sure enough, there it was.
So I had to fess up that I had completely overlooked it, had my people looking all over for it, and even sent them off to another part of the facility in order to attempt to find it. And after I made every attempt to apologize for my failure and their wasted time, every one started laughing. At first, I stood there, simply looking around and wondering what I was missing.
Finally, one of my peers explained that they had actually found the file in their travels, just as I had suggested. However, on their return to the general area they decided to play a little prank. And in a brilliant example of subterfuge, they slipped the file into my organizer when I wasn’t looking.
A good laugh was had by all. And I really must say, its nice to be the brunt of a light hearded joke. Thanks for welcoming me back to the group.
The people I work with I spend a lot of time with each other, in a very close-quarters work environment. You add to that the night shift, even though working the night shift is exactly the same job, is almost a totally different environment than the day shift. So I, coming from day shift for the last two years, am a little bit of an outsider. At least that’s the way it feels. And relationships with people who I really haven’t seen in the past two years are approached with a little trepidation and even a little caution. But here am I am.
So we were at work, filing some paperwork. In this office we generate mountains of paperwork. It’s ridiculous really. Working with a computer system that was labeled as “paperless” has proven to be anything but that. So we are filing some paperwork and find that a file is missing. Now, we know this file as created the night before, by us, and there is no real reason for this file to be missing. So the search begins. There are 6 drawers worth of files to look through, and we searched every one of them. All through the process, one of my co-workers kept asking me, “Hey, is that file on your desk?” It was more of a joke, than anything else, but for the first couple of times I made a point of looking through the various places this elusive file might have been. After answering no the first couple of times, I sent some people on a little hunt for the missing file, and after that quite honestly I didn’t give it much more thought.
About an hour later, I was sitting at my desk, and noticed the errant paperwork still sitting on the desk. So I made the general comment that we would need to create a duplicate file, since the other had disappeared. About the same time, one of my co-workers had walked by, and made the off-hand comment about the file being right in front of my face. I looked in the file organizer in front of me, and sure enough, there it was.
So I had to fess up that I had completely overlooked it, had my people looking all over for it, and even sent them off to another part of the facility in order to attempt to find it. And after I made every attempt to apologize for my failure and their wasted time, every one started laughing. At first, I stood there, simply looking around and wondering what I was missing.
Finally, one of my peers explained that they had actually found the file in their travels, just as I had suggested. However, on their return to the general area they decided to play a little prank. And in a brilliant example of subterfuge, they slipped the file into my organizer when I wasn’t looking.
A good laugh was had by all. And I really must say, its nice to be the brunt of a light hearded joke. Thanks for welcoming me back to the group.
Being on the inside is being on the inside. It doesn't matter much how you got there. Nice that you took the prank good naturedly. That goes a long way with most people.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget about pay back. It's always fun!!!