today at work, i had to sit through one of those bloated all staff meetings where they pack 200 people into a conference room without any chairs. I had a difficult time focusing upon the meeting since, over the course of the meeting, I grew increasingly worried about what had become of the chairs. I worried that someone had made a cruel decision to banish them. And that they would be left on the street to fend for themselves, and even the heartiest among them, would never return. And what about my favorite chair? could I really be the only one who cared about it? It was too painful to contemplate. Why did I care so much?
which was the moment i tuned back to the meeting. they turned over the microphone to the head of IT, who is one of my 3 bosses, and one of the most difficult people I’ve ever tried to work with/for. The moments where she is not rude to me or condescending, those are the moments i live for when i have to deal with her, which I try to do as little as possible.
So she was talking on and on about virtual reality and the new software for entering time sheet hours and staff training and workshops and a new phone system. it seemed like she would never stop, until one woman in the back of the room raised her hand to say “excuse me, but this is only relevant to 3 people and most of us are on deadlines and… ” and the head of IT interrupted her and said, “excuse me, but I think you’re being a cunt.” followed about 70 seconds of dead silence in the room. And then the CFO grabbed the microphone away from the head of IT and thanked everyone for coming, “especially those of you who would give anything to be elsewhere, were you given the choice.”
I could not wait to get back to my desk, even though they had taken my chair away.