fuck this job.com

I can't believe I haven't posted for almost two months. I was trying to put this in logical order, but fuck it. I need to vent.

I hate my stumpy bitch of a coworker. Wide as she is tall, which isn’t very tall at all, I call her Short Round. And mean! Ooo, she’s surly. She’s as surly as I would be if I were 65 years old and still a secretary, but, hey, I would take that energy and sublimate it into updating my resume and a job search. But I digress.

One day last week, Shorty decided she didn’t want to make a hotel reservation because said hotel was too expensive. The Engineer who asked her to make the reservation is one step away from being a partner in the firm. Dude deals with budgets all day long because if he wants to make partner, and he does, he has to prove himself as profitable as possible. I don’t know what her issue is anyway because IT’S NOT HER MONEY, but what is especially galling is that this guy is one of the few high level people who treat the secretarial staff as human beings. After arguing with her for a while, Engineer stepped aside and asked me if the firm had a corporate rate with this hotel, and, after confirming that, yes, indeed the firm has a special rate, he asked me to tell Shorty. I offered to make the reservation myself, but he said, “No, just tell her. Let’s not make this more difficult.” *sigh*

I told her, and she was still resistant. I went on and told her that this particular hotel was on the approved list that was circulated a few years ago of hotels to use in the city. She said, “I know that, but it’s too expensive. There are other hotels.” So I said, “There are other hotels, but their service might be substandard. You get what you pay for.” And she said, “Llorona. Butt. Out.” OK.

Engineer then pipes up and explains the relationship of this guy to the firm, he’s a former colleague of her boss, etc., etc., and she very dramatically exclaims, “Thank you! That’s what I was asking!” Uh, no, she wasn’t asking shit. She was refusing to book a reservation and suggesting budget hotels because, y’know, it’s not her money, so it doesn’t matter, right?

Actually, it does matter because if she makes this difficult enough for Engineer he will stop asking for her help, which will allow her to continue to read magazines and library books at her desk for hours at a time. In the three years she’s worked here, she’s managed to alienate enough employees, while successfully sucking her boss’ ass, that she manages about three hours everyday with nothing to do. Trying to pre-empt further shirking of responsibility which always seems to land on my desk, I explained to her that Engineer, and others like him, consider these things before coming to us admins because image is sometimes more important than budget. And she said, “Thank you. That’s enough.” Because I’m five and need to know when to be dismissed.

As pissed off as I was, which was (oof!) really pissed, I had the forethought to want to dissipate the tension, so I said, “I apologize, I’m not trying to be an ass – “ And before I could go on, she said, “Well, you are.” DAG! OK, I shouldn’t have used the word “ass” but, still, I would never dare to call someone else that – not at work! She’s a crazy bitch that one. So I’m waiting for her boss to get back from vacation so that he, she, my boss and I can all sit down to discuss this.