Hisssssss...

[mousme]

I was told today that I should keep the novels I bring to work (to read on my lunch break) in a drawer and not on a corner of my desk. A corner well away from all my other work.

Why?

People have apparently commented (behind my back, obviously) that it looks unprofessional.

Okay. Two problems.

1) Why not tell me to my face? Why depend on L to relay the message later? That's what galls me the most.

2) What the fuck? No, seriously. Since when is having a book considered unprofessional? It's not like I'm sitting with my feet up on my desk, reading my novel and buffing my nails and ignoring all the work I have to do. The book is out of the way, and only gets picked up on my breaks.

I am annoyed.

Comments

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the BNC, dear. EVERYTHING is about bitching behind someone's back. And EVERYONE is bitching about someone or something.

I was once 'counselled' by my manager that my co-worker and I laughed too loud.

Because laughter in a place of business is unprofessional and disrespectful of my co-workers' right to a tranquil workplace.

I wish to CHRIST I was making that up.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Well, you do have a loud laugh, which is why we love you. :)

There is a fair amount of bitching that goes on, but naively I thought that if I did my job well and efficiently, they wouldn't find anything to bitch about.

I don't even know who actually bitched about the book. Probably someone who wouldn't know a piece of literature if it bit them on the ass. Lord knows there are enough of them around here. >_<

*growl*

The worst part is that they're very nice here, for the most part. Every now and then they just indulge in this kind of ass-hattery which gets on my nerves.

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

*LOL*

You work well AND efficiently? Oh dear, oh no. You see, that just makes them look harder for something to bitch about you.

As for nice, well... Someone who is nice to you and mean to the waitress, is not a nice person. My experience of the BNC showed me that even the people you consider colleagues and work-friends can and will be two-faced.

Sorry, hon. I hope your experience is different.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Enh. I'm not planning on getting too attached to anyone here, although I do like L. She's pretty cool (we bonded over beta fish).

This place is making me look at Erb with a great deal of nostalgia. At least there the ass-hattery was in the open. I am severely allergic to hypocrisy, which I found out working for Bell Mobility.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

HRH was let go at the end of a project and not re-hired once because someone complained to HR that he read on his lunch hours -- which he always took at his desk.

So someone walked by at some point, saw him reading, and assumed that he was hirking work. And instead fo saying something, they went and tattled.

No one bothered to consider the fact that he deserved to take a lunch break, because not only was he putting in overtime hours on the project he was assigned to to cover for other people dragging their feet, but he was also putting in uncredited time helping another project catch up.

I think part of the issue is that most people don't read because they consider it a waste of time, therefore if you like books you must waste an awful lot of time. Which boggles my mind, of course.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had that problem at Bell Mobility when I read during my fifteen-minute breaks at my desk. Why would I spend five minutes to go to the staff room, read for five minutes, then spend five minutes coming back when I could simply put down my headset and read for fifteen minutes?

:::shakes head:::

I don't think I'll ever understand people who ask me about my university degree and tell me that it's "useless." I realize that most people don't consider literature studies to be marketable, but really, is that a reflection of literature's actual usefulness, or simply a reflection of a society that's becoming increasingly incapable of reflection?

Meh. I could rant a lot longer about this, and I have, in the past. ;)

[luvenditti.livejournal.com]

people are unbelievable.

[sultrysong.livejournal.com]

You'd think that having a literate person at the desk would be a good thing. The humidity is melting people's good sense.

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

I've had similar complaints against me for taking my lunch at my desk and surfing the web. It's like, your desk is ONLY FOR WORK. If you are at your desk, YOU MUST BE WORKING. And since reading and surfing the net are clearly NOT work related activities, YOU MUST BE SLACKING.

At the bank I was specifically told by my supervisors, as a friendly unofficial precaution, to take my breaks away from my desk.

Marc Soula actually made a sign that read ON BREAK. So that if he was reading and listening to his mp3 player, people wouldn't assume he was slacking.

The corollary to this is, of course, the coworkers clearly have nothing better to do with their time than jealously scrutinize their coworkers for the least bit of gossip to bitch and moan about.

*sigh*

[borrowedwings.livejournal.com]

The sign sounds like an excellent idea.

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's hellish annoying! I'd be pissed of by it, too.