Attitude Is Everything

I had a strange experience yesterday.

At work, I and two other managers were asked to “donate” our lower-level office staff in rotating shifts to cover for an absent secretary. My own two assistants rose to the occasion with good attitudes. But they became unable to cover shifts this week, so we had to call on the support staff from the other teams.

To my complete shock, when the other two managers went to their teams and asked them to sign up for shifts, they got attitude. Nasty, won’t-do-it attitude. Sullen, refuse-to-sign-up attitude. They crossed their arms, wouldn’t look their managers in the eye and had to be threatened with “choose or we’ll choose for you.” And after that, a cloud hung over the business office. You’d think we had murdered their pets and sold their children!

I’ve seen bad attitudes, but I haven’t seen anything like that since I was in the restaurant business, where you expect crappy attitudes from your fly-by-night minimum-wage staff. But the ladies in question yesterday weren’t minimum wage flunkies with no benefits and no status. They’re all paid in the high twenties, with full benefits and nice computers and ergonomic office furniture. They spend a lot of time eating, talking to each other, gabbing on the phone and surfing the internet. Oh, they clear the occasional paper jam in the copier and sometimes push a few papers around or answer the phone, but they don’t do all that much, really.

And what was the job we were asking them to do that was so horrible?

Sit at a desk in another office for two hours, surf the internet (with our blessing), and handle any situations the absent secretary’s student workers couldn’t deal with. It was a gravy job. As I told one of my peers, “If someone offered to pay me to surf the internet for two hours, I’d be signing up for double shifts!”

We made the job as sweet as we possibly could, shortening the shifts to two hours apiece, and still these young ladies carried on in a way that, had they been working for me, I think I would’ve written them up.

I was told that these young ladies act this way all the time.

All. The. Time.

I told our uber-boss what happened, which was the most I could do, since they aren’t my employees. Uber-boss says she’s going to do something about it. I hope so. As far as I’m concerned, if they don’t want to act like team players, they can go find other work. Let them go work in restaurant or retail, where your ability to put your game face on for a couple hours determines whether or not you go home with any money in your pockets. Wouldn’t the spoiled little princesses like that?

I’m just glad they don’t work for me.

Recent Workouts
Sunday: 90 minute spin
Monday: 4 mile run
Tuesday: 3.5 mile run
Wednesday: 4 mile run