Names have been changed to protect me. I may not be innocent, but I have to work with these people.
In the mail room, we sometimes have to cover the reception desk. We used to cover the receptionist, Briana, when she went to lunch, but a few weeks ago Ette, one of the (former) executive secretaries, moved to building services, next to the mail room, and took over covering the front desk. This caused some celebration in the mail room, because my coworkers Hal and Shelly hated covering reception.
Last week, Briana and Ette worked off-site destroying documents with two reps from the home office. Ette was supposed to be there for one day while Briana was going to be gone for the whole week. That would have meant Ette manning reception and Hal or Shelly covering her for lunch.
Monday Briana and Ette started an hour late because the documents had been pulled from storage. They also got a three-hour lunch, and decided they were having so much fun that Ette should stay at the off-site all week. They didn't start work on time during the project. The out-of-town reps also wanted to go sight-seeing while they were here and asked if Briana and Ette would show them around town. Neither of them had time in the evenings for it, so they told the reps it would have to be before four-thirty. One of the reps had a company car and gas card, but she told Briana to keep them both because the rep didn't know her way around town.
Hal and Shelly blew up when they heard about this. Not only did they have to cover reception all day, they were covering for people taking super-lunches and playing tour guide. Hal answered the phones with feeling, when he wasn't taking a nap and bothered to turn the phone system on. He and Shelly have both stated with feeling that Briana shouldn't ask them for any help again. I hope it's clear what feelings they have. It is primarily anger, with a pinch of spite for spice.
Because I'm still capable of having a conversation with Briana, I've found out the situation wasn't as bad as Hal and Shelly imagined. Nobody was playing tour guide. Briana had the car because the out-of-town rep told her to take it. She and Ette had a long lunch Monday and Monday only, because the off-site didn't have the documents ready; should they be expected to come back to work for an hour and drive right back? I think Shelly will get over this, but Hal is going to hold on to it until either he or Briana isn't there anymore. Probably longer.
And there's Al. Al and Sally carpool every day; Al is married, Sally is single. Both are middle-aged, kind of heavy, average people. They are probably the only two native English speakers in their department. For much longer than I've been there, Al and Sally have been watched around the office for tell-tale signs of romance or, at least, the sex. The absence of definite signals hasn't slowed the rumor mill. That changed Thursday when Hal and two people from building services were coming back from lunch, around one-thirty, and saw Al and Sally walking into the hotel two blocks from our office building. This sighting fueled nearly an hour of discussion involving everyone in and near the mail room. All the corners were dusted, from why were they walking to what were they doing, and how did they pay to what does she see in him. Hal used to work at another hotel from the same chain; he enlightened us as to their reasonable daytime rate structure, and stated there is no restaurant in that hotel.
Sociology indicates that Al and Sally walked rather than lose their parking space, that Sally paid so that Al's wife wouldn't notice the deficit, and that they had the sex. If you want to know what any woman sees in any man, you have a lot to learn about women. Meanwhile, the office is watching with bated breath.
Tomorrow an executive will be visiting our office, ostensibly to fire people. Lots of people. Possibly three digits of people. I'm taking a perverse pleasure in thinking about the shit getting stirred since we know our contract for the mail room won't be extended. We're getting kicked out, but that's five months from now, and somebody's getting booted now.
Oh, and Briana is buying food stamps from someone in maintenance. I don't know if she's paying less than face-value, but I don't think she would deal if she wasn't.
In the mail room, we sometimes have to cover the reception desk. We used to cover the receptionist, Briana, when she went to lunch, but a few weeks ago Ette, one of the (former) executive secretaries, moved to building services, next to the mail room, and took over covering the front desk. This caused some celebration in the mail room, because my coworkers Hal and Shelly hated covering reception.
Last week, Briana and Ette worked off-site destroying documents with two reps from the home office. Ette was supposed to be there for one day while Briana was going to be gone for the whole week. That would have meant Ette manning reception and Hal or Shelly covering her for lunch.
Monday Briana and Ette started an hour late because the documents had been pulled from storage. They also got a three-hour lunch, and decided they were having so much fun that Ette should stay at the off-site all week. They didn't start work on time during the project. The out-of-town reps also wanted to go sight-seeing while they were here and asked if Briana and Ette would show them around town. Neither of them had time in the evenings for it, so they told the reps it would have to be before four-thirty. One of the reps had a company car and gas card, but she told Briana to keep them both because the rep didn't know her way around town.
Hal and Shelly blew up when they heard about this. Not only did they have to cover reception all day, they were covering for people taking super-lunches and playing tour guide. Hal answered the phones with feeling, when he wasn't taking a nap and bothered to turn the phone system on. He and Shelly have both stated with feeling that Briana shouldn't ask them for any help again. I hope it's clear what feelings they have. It is primarily anger, with a pinch of spite for spice.
Because I'm still capable of having a conversation with Briana, I've found out the situation wasn't as bad as Hal and Shelly imagined. Nobody was playing tour guide. Briana had the car because the out-of-town rep told her to take it. She and Ette had a long lunch Monday and Monday only, because the off-site didn't have the documents ready; should they be expected to come back to work for an hour and drive right back? I think Shelly will get over this, but Hal is going to hold on to it until either he or Briana isn't there anymore. Probably longer.
And there's Al. Al and Sally carpool every day; Al is married, Sally is single. Both are middle-aged, kind of heavy, average people. They are probably the only two native English speakers in their department. For much longer than I've been there, Al and Sally have been watched around the office for tell-tale signs of romance or, at least, the sex. The absence of definite signals hasn't slowed the rumor mill. That changed Thursday when Hal and two people from building services were coming back from lunch, around one-thirty, and saw Al and Sally walking into the hotel two blocks from our office building. This sighting fueled nearly an hour of discussion involving everyone in and near the mail room. All the corners were dusted, from why were they walking to what were they doing, and how did they pay to what does she see in him. Hal used to work at another hotel from the same chain; he enlightened us as to their reasonable daytime rate structure, and stated there is no restaurant in that hotel.
Sociology indicates that Al and Sally walked rather than lose their parking space, that Sally paid so that Al's wife wouldn't notice the deficit, and that they had the sex. If you want to know what any woman sees in any man, you have a lot to learn about women. Meanwhile, the office is watching with bated breath.
Tomorrow an executive will be visiting our office, ostensibly to fire people. Lots of people. Possibly three digits of people. I'm taking a perverse pleasure in thinking about the shit getting stirred since we know our contract for the mail room won't be extended. We're getting kicked out, but that's five months from now, and somebody's getting booted now.
Oh, and Briana is buying food stamps from someone in maintenance. I don't know if she's paying less than face-value, but I don't think she would deal if she wasn't.
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