Thursday, October 26, 2006
The stupidest thing I've ever seen
So I walk into the kitchen, and there are a million cups and mugs sitting on the bench not put in the dishwasher. So I say to the person in the kitchen, 'the dishwasher's not full yet' and she says the sign said not to touch the dishwasher. I have no idea what she's talking about, and someone points out the changeable sign sticky-taped to the front of the dishwasher saying 'do not touch, dishwasher in use'. I laugh, and say 'well, can't argue with that, can I?' but then I realise, all these people who left their mugs on the bench, must have read that sign, and decided not to 'touch' the dishwasher. The alternative sign that gets put into the plastic slip stuck to the dishwasher says 'put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher'.
1. Why do people need a sign to tell them whether they are permitted to put things in it, when most people over the age of 5 can tell when a machine is operating judging by the flashing green lights and obvious humming sound emanating from said machine?
2. Why do people pay such strict attention to this sign when common sense dictates that in the middle of the day the dishwasher is not likely to be operating or full of clean dishes?
Stupidity at its finest.
Anyway I was in the kitchen again, and I nearly said "I think this sign is a stupid idea" but forced myself to bite my tongue and walked out.
And the people here generally speaking are a bit weird. Mostly nice, but mostly weird. One guy came up to reception with an Express Post envelope and stared at me earnestly till I got off the phone. Then he asked who does the mail. The girl who has been doing reception is away today, and I am the only one here. NEWSFLASH BUDDY, ME! Who did he think was going to do the mail? This doesn't sound like a big deal, but he had this overall attitude problem. Like, he's like, 'where are the express post envelopes' and I started looking for them, because alas, only having been here two days, I did not know. He became impatient with me, and came behind the desk to start looking for them himself. He looked in the cardboard box where we throw scrap paper for recycling, as if they definitely had to be there, but I was too stupid to look. I said 'that's the recycling bin'. He's like 'oh'. Then he sat down and bent over the envelope to write on it and his face was about 4cm away from the desk.
Now, I think I undertand what people mean when they talk about 'interpersonal skills' - nobody wants a fucked up arsehole working at their work, but the truth is, there will always be fucked up arseholes in this world, and they all want jobs. I think the way a person treats the admin person says alot about who they are. So be nice to your measly litte apparently uneducated, dim, dumb, slow, bimbo of a receptionist.
Oh another thing which seems to be a recurring theme in the world of admin.
My supervisor came up and explained that she wanted me to ring these people and find out if we still had an outstanding bill with them. It took roughly seven minutes for her to explain what she wanted me to do. Actually doing it, took about a minute and a half. I just don't get it. ¶ 14:05
So I walk into the kitchen, and there are a million cups and mugs sitting on the bench not put in the dishwasher. So I say to the person in the kitchen, 'the dishwasher's not full yet' and she says the sign said not to touch the dishwasher. I have no idea what she's talking about, and someone points out the changeable sign sticky-taped to the front of the dishwasher saying 'do not touch, dishwasher in use'. I laugh, and say 'well, can't argue with that, can I?' but then I realise, all these people who left their mugs on the bench, must have read that sign, and decided not to 'touch' the dishwasher. The alternative sign that gets put into the plastic slip stuck to the dishwasher says 'put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher'.
1. Why do people need a sign to tell them whether they are permitted to put things in it, when most people over the age of 5 can tell when a machine is operating judging by the flashing green lights and obvious humming sound emanating from said machine?
2. Why do people pay such strict attention to this sign when common sense dictates that in the middle of the day the dishwasher is not likely to be operating or full of clean dishes?
Stupidity at its finest.
Anyway I was in the kitchen again, and I nearly said "I think this sign is a stupid idea" but forced myself to bite my tongue and walked out.
And the people here generally speaking are a bit weird. Mostly nice, but mostly weird. One guy came up to reception with an Express Post envelope and stared at me earnestly till I got off the phone. Then he asked who does the mail. The girl who has been doing reception is away today, and I am the only one here. NEWSFLASH BUDDY, ME! Who did he think was going to do the mail? This doesn't sound like a big deal, but he had this overall attitude problem. Like, he's like, 'where are the express post envelopes' and I started looking for them, because alas, only having been here two days, I did not know. He became impatient with me, and came behind the desk to start looking for them himself. He looked in the cardboard box where we throw scrap paper for recycling, as if they definitely had to be there, but I was too stupid to look. I said 'that's the recycling bin'. He's like 'oh'. Then he sat down and bent over the envelope to write on it and his face was about 4cm away from the desk.
Now, I think I undertand what people mean when they talk about 'interpersonal skills' - nobody wants a fucked up arsehole working at their work, but the truth is, there will always be fucked up arseholes in this world, and they all want jobs. I think the way a person treats the admin person says alot about who they are. So be nice to your measly litte apparently uneducated, dim, dumb, slow, bimbo of a receptionist.
Oh another thing which seems to be a recurring theme in the world of admin.
My supervisor came up and explained that she wanted me to ring these people and find out if we still had an outstanding bill with them. It took roughly seven minutes for her to explain what she wanted me to do. Actually doing it, took about a minute and a half. I just don't get it. ¶ 14:05
