Since the last time I had the energy to post here, there have been trips to the aquarium, two children's birthday celebrations, and more exhausting fun than you can shake a pixie stick at.
At the beginning of the week I was ambushed with the "Employee of the Month" award. The award came with a gift card for a local grocery store chain (the B&N would have been more in line with my interests, but I can see the logic behind the choice of a grocery card) and a parking voucher. I offered the parking voucher to one of my co-workers, since I carpool every day and don't expect to use it. She made the mistake of asking her boss if it's okay (because the other departments have allowed voucher sharing), and he said no and then promptly had her tear it up. When she told me about what happened I was pretty annoyed, and planned to express my disappointment in not being able to share a benefit that I thought was mine to do with as I chose - and to bitterly complain about the destruction of my parking voucher. But they got me a new one before I could say anything, so now I just don't care.
I have a new "suite mate" (as the HR manager referred to her as). It took several days of being in the office directly across from her before I was even introduced. On her first day, someone was directed to inform me that if anyone asked, I was to say that this new employee was "on loan" from corporate. I was told that this was due to management being "sensitive" to the culture around the office currently relating to our supposed hiring and wage freezes, and they didn't want to upset anyone. I basically said that if it was true that the new employee was being "borrowed" from corporate (for a position that previously may not have existed since it was written in as part of the justification for the HR manager's last pay raise and probably wasn't advertised, anyway), then there was no reason for management to feel that it was a "sensitive" issue, and they could (and should) be honest and upfront about it. Unless it was a lie. In which case, I unequivocally refused to be a party to a lie to protect management. I won't be in collusion with anything that is in direct opposition with my personal ethics. Oh, and on her first day this new HR employee who is in charge of "employee relations" went around telling people that she got a pay increase as part of being transferred to our branch. Annnnd we have a winnah!
In addition to those events, I was told by my supervisor this week that something I've been doing - or rather not been doing, because it involves me not having access to software that is actually a redundant program for something that we already pay to utilize - is "unacceptable". Some bluff was called. It may have been a misguided choice on my part to not be that concerned with the functionality of that program, but stating to me that it is "unacceptable" for me to not request that IT fix a script error in software that is irrelelvant to my particular responsibilities is taking it a little far. I'll get it fixed, but I don't use that program for anything - I was under the impression that the department was responsible for providing the reports and data from that program to me. Otherwise, I'm doing part of their jobs. Which means - shouldn't I get part of their salary? I know - dream on, Sunshine.
There's work being done on the roof of my building this week. It sounds like they only employ obese yetis wearing lead loafers. I expect one of them to come falling through the ceiling any moment.
Meanwhile, the semi-suburban middle-class ennui continues unabated. Stay tuned for our next installment, coming soon...ish!
*It is also futile...
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