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muck_a_luckI did a bitchy thing this morning.
We have always had an unspoken arrangement in the office that the Jaffes will take the mail at the end of the day. This arrangement was set up when Jaffe ahd one assistant, and she worked in the office next to me. She collected her mail in the box we all shared on the corner of my desk (located between me and Cellmate and very convenient to the photocopier). Cellmate or I would take the mail in the mid-day, pick up the mail, sort it for the 6 parties who receive mail, and distribute the mail. Jaffe's assistant would do her production late in the day and take the mail at 4:30, just before the last pickup.
Cellmate and I relied on this relationship. And it was a pretty fair distribution of labor.
However, Jaffe's staff has changed. The new chick who is responsible for the mail collects her own mail at her own desk up front, hardly ever walks by the "group" mailbox, and often doesn't take our mail for the 4:30 pickup. Which would be no biggie, except that it screws me and Cellmate over, if we don't notice.
Let me add, that if Cellmate or I is out or too busy to get the mail, nobody gets the mail. They rely on us for that, and are quite annoyed, I'm sure, when they realize at 4:45 that nobody ever brought up the incoming.
So this morning, I walk in and bunches of my time critical mail is sitting in the box and nobody took it. Obviously, the old relationship isn't going to work. I have set a reminder on my calender to bug me to take the mail until I learn it as part of my routine.
The bitchy thing I did... I complained.
It was bitchy, because I have already decided a plan of action to deal with the problem, and actually don't really care what Carmen does on her end. There was no point in complaining. From now on, I assume that I need to handle my own mail, and I will continue to go get the mail, becuase I need things that come in the mail and won't be able to rely on them to remember to go get it, any more than I can rely on them to remember it at the end of the day.
But I complained anyway. I let Carmen know that I felt maybe we should reverse the old relationship - I would take the mail before I leave at 4:15, and they could go get and sort and distribute the new mail. Carmen was very defensive. Didn't I know that her staff was leaving at 3:00 and didn't I notice that I had mail to go out? She said, "I thought you would see that she was gone and see that you had mail and take your own mail." Which kinda pissed me off. Because nobody told either me or Cellmate that we had to fend for ourselves if the other woman left early. The mail pickup is 4:45. That was the old deadline we worked with. The other woman didn't announce, Hey! I'm leaving now! How are we supposed to know that the other woman has left for the day?
Anyway, now I know what to expect in the way of office teamwork, as well. It's kinda sad. But office dynamics change over time. When the Jafffes move to their new offices next door, I'm sure this situation would have happened naturally, anyway.
Oh, well. Yet another reminder that if you want something, you can't rely on others for it. Do it yourself and save a lot of grief in the long run.
Looking at that sentence and thinking what I just wrote to Daisy this morning, I'm wondering how long it will be before I am the crazy old lady with 60 cats...
We have always had an unspoken arrangement in the office that the Jaffes will take the mail at the end of the day. This arrangement was set up when Jaffe ahd one assistant, and she worked in the office next to me. She collected her mail in the box we all shared on the corner of my desk (located between me and Cellmate and very convenient to the photocopier). Cellmate or I would take the mail in the mid-day, pick up the mail, sort it for the 6 parties who receive mail, and distribute the mail. Jaffe's assistant would do her production late in the day and take the mail at 4:30, just before the last pickup.
Cellmate and I relied on this relationship. And it was a pretty fair distribution of labor.
However, Jaffe's staff has changed. The new chick who is responsible for the mail collects her own mail at her own desk up front, hardly ever walks by the "group" mailbox, and often doesn't take our mail for the 4:30 pickup. Which would be no biggie, except that it screws me and Cellmate over, if we don't notice.
Let me add, that if Cellmate or I is out or too busy to get the mail, nobody gets the mail. They rely on us for that, and are quite annoyed, I'm sure, when they realize at 4:45 that nobody ever brought up the incoming.
So this morning, I walk in and bunches of my time critical mail is sitting in the box and nobody took it. Obviously, the old relationship isn't going to work. I have set a reminder on my calender to bug me to take the mail until I learn it as part of my routine.
The bitchy thing I did... I complained.
It was bitchy, because I have already decided a plan of action to deal with the problem, and actually don't really care what Carmen does on her end. There was no point in complaining. From now on, I assume that I need to handle my own mail, and I will continue to go get the mail, becuase I need things that come in the mail and won't be able to rely on them to remember to go get it, any more than I can rely on them to remember it at the end of the day.
But I complained anyway. I let Carmen know that I felt maybe we should reverse the old relationship - I would take the mail before I leave at 4:15, and they could go get and sort and distribute the new mail. Carmen was very defensive. Didn't I know that her staff was leaving at 3:00 and didn't I notice that I had mail to go out? She said, "I thought you would see that she was gone and see that you had mail and take your own mail." Which kinda pissed me off. Because nobody told either me or Cellmate that we had to fend for ourselves if the other woman left early. The mail pickup is 4:45. That was the old deadline we worked with. The other woman didn't announce, Hey! I'm leaving now! How are we supposed to know that the other woman has left for the day?
Anyway, now I know what to expect in the way of office teamwork, as well. It's kinda sad. But office dynamics change over time. When the Jafffes move to their new offices next door, I'm sure this situation would have happened naturally, anyway.
Oh, well. Yet another reminder that if you want something, you can't rely on others for it. Do it yourself and save a lot of grief in the long run.
Looking at that sentence and thinking what I just wrote to Daisy this morning, I'm wondering how long it will be before I am the crazy old lady with 60 cats...
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Date: 2005-02-08 03:54 pm (UTC)I swear, there are days when I think that would be grand--cats, books: life is good.