Being told off as an adultWhen was the last time you were properly told off? You know: treated as an errant child rather than the sophisticated adult you are.
The sort of thing that dredges up an involuntary teenage mumble of "Sorry, Miss" whilst you stare at the ground.
Go on, tell us what childish thing you were up to when you got caught.
Oh, and can we have more than one-line answers this time? Cheers!
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chthonic, Thu 20 Sep 2007, 17:18)
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Sorry seems to be the hardest wordThe only time I can recall any burning shame at a dressing down was over ten years ago.
I used to work in an office where I was the 'go to guy' for any computer problems. One of my colleagues, Linda, was amiable enough but prone to misunderstandings due to having no sense of humour and bursts of irrational hysterics over the square root of fuck all.
One day, as I sorted out one of the computers after some numpty decided to 'tidy it up' by deleting every icon off the desktop, Linda approached me and wanted to use the computer. Thinking that she'd been the numpty who'd fucked it up earlier, I replied "No, you can't. I've been told by (name-of-manager) that you're not to be let anywhere near computers as you'll only break them" in a crap-joke manner.
There was only herself and myself in the room at the time and she stormed off in a huff as I got back to sorting out the computer. About ten minutes later and the phone rang. "Fanta? This is (name-of-manager) please come to my office immediately." I arrived to find the manager and Linda who had been crying. "Linda says you verbally assaulted her and accused her of being incompetent in front of other staff members." I repeated what I'd said and mentioned that I'd been joking and that there was nobody else in the room at the time. I then offered to apologise to Linda over any offence I may have caused but she wasn't having it. I must make a full apology in front of the entire staff - from Director to Receptionist - or else she was taking it to an employment tribunal. Apparently, by questioning her competence and using our manager's name, I'd gone and ruined her reputation within the organisation.
So, that Friday afternoon, I had to stand on the main stair, facing three dozen people lined up in front of me and give the most crow-eating apology of my life to Linda, who looked as though she was grieving for the love of her life as he was being laid to rest. It didn't make me feel any better when the director took me aside and said that Linda was a complete loon and that he agreed with me that she'd made a mountain out of a molehill but that he couldn't risk an enquiry so just give her a wide berth in future eh?
(, Fri 21 Sep 2007, 12:47, Reply)
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