Not Exactly An Appropriate Follow-Up

At my job, it's no secret that the two divisions comprising the company, administration and laboratory production, are constantly at odds; the production team is infamous for organizing lunchtime pitch-ins and "forgetting" to invite those on the other side of the building. It's kind of like West Side Story, only instead the Jets and Sharks snapping their fingers menacingly in city parking lots, you have confirmations and extractions grilling ten pounds of chicken on the breakroom patio with no intention of sharing.

To retaliate, client services decided to host a little shindig of their own (of course, they neglected to spread the word to the rest of us as well; the vicious cycle, she continues!) and generously invited me to sample a piece of their chocolate éclair cake. Turns out another fellow joined in the fun and was too hot and bothered by the seduction of mid-day dessert to even think of plates and appropriate utensils. No siree, he just dipped his index finger into the crevice of the serving spoon AND LICKED IT IN MY PRESENCE, which in turn forced me to attack the cakey éclair goodness with my dollar-store fork and knife and scurry back to my corner of the universe before someone questioned my blatant disregard for Iron Chef cutlery.

Why anyone would want to escape corporate America I'll never know. The blog fodder alone is priceless.

It can also provide a buoyant conclusion to a very long week.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers. They mean more than you know.

Comments

[Will Shannon]

I could not agree more: the corporate world is the sociological phenomenon of at least the last century.

With divisions not getting along, I think that this happens in all organizations. Be they universities, corporations, governments or Cub Scout Packs. Why?

It is because these organizations, while purporting to be of one mind and uniform mission are really a loose confederation of warring tribes. Each section is headed by the patronage chief, from whom all honor and scorn flow.

It is from this person that the average participant gains entre into the rarefied world of management, which is merely the top of the patron/client pyramid.

What do I mean by all of this? It has always seemed to me that organizations are against human nature. Humans as social animals? I am not so sure...

...and it is this clash that leads to humor on a daily basis, humor that keeps us sane amidst the clash of interests. We need it.

Eclair cake sounds delicious.

[Silly Hily]

It's times like this that I'm glad I work in an office with only five people. We get along, for the most part. 3 are Republicans and 2 are Democrats though so that makes for some interesting, um, conversations.

[Lost A Sock]

At least he didn't offer you to follow suit? Eeeew.

[daddy d]

It is too bad that there are divisions of people into them and us groupings. But that does happen all the time in social systems. At 8:00am our management group person, tells the whole school that we need "something positive". He says, we had nice homecoming floats yesterday. But classes had already started and good education was going on within classrooms. Good educational lessons are not taking place in the office where his finds a lack of "something positive."

[Mrs. S]

I'm just jealous that you got cake. Is that wrong?

Clearly the part of my brain that deals in cake is working overtime lately *sigh*