Petty annoyance but it's making me insane.

It's Ray Davies, gus.

I knew who she was, Gus. I loved Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Hey, welcome back Lady J.

Hugs to you, Roger! It's good to be back. I've missed you guys a LOT!

Swimpy, I'm glad you had a chance to talk with this secretary. And Chai is right, you didn't give her the cancer. Don't feel guilty about not liking her now. I do understand how your plight though and really feel for you right now. Continue to just be yourself. Your empathy will show and she'll appreciate that.

Swimpy...don't fret.

As a cancer survivor, I can tell you that one of the deeply disappointing things that happens is how some people you thought you could count on disappear when you tell them your diagnosis. However, one of the completely amazing things that happens is how some people you never considered friends are suddenly there for you. They make up for the loss of the first group. So don't be ashamed, be proud. Because you're one of the second group for this lady. She will appreciate you more than she can ever tell you.

That's a cool way of putting it, Eva.

This is definitely true; I noticed it when my mother was ill.

PS Swimpy, in a tiny little way, this disease, this horrid disease, may have sparked a little good. You two connected a bit, when before that was impossible. And that's not such a bad thing after all.

Swimpy--

Cancer changes the rules.

Cancer creates a climate of First Things Come First.

Sick people deserve more understanding than well people.

ok, anyway I say this is going to come out weird, so here goes.....



The person I work with? If she told me she had cancer, I would need a little more proof that she actually did...

random excerpts of past conversations.....

---------------------
Upon mentioning someone was going to have a hysterectomy:

Oh, I've had a hysterectomy and also had cancer everywhere else.
Everywhere else?
Yeah, the doctors just said I had cancer everywhere...
Like where?
Oh, everywhere.

--------------------------
Upon her coming into the office one morning and I was the only one there....

<walks>

My Brother was MURDERED last night!
Murdered?! Oh God, what happened?

Well, he was in this bar and someone just beat him to death.
Beat him to death? Oh God....

Yeah, now he's in the hospital and is in intensive care....
but I thought you said....uh.....

(he got in a bar fight, never in intensive care)
------------------------

A week after learning my husband had to have a defibrillator implanted for Ventrical Fib...

Oh....I need a de-fib-bril- il-lator too.
What?!
Yeah, my doctor said so.
What did he say exactly?
Oh,.....just that I was really worn out, and uh.....I should take it easy...

-----------------
When my boss had a bad 2 days after chemo, and was finally able to come in the office....

Oh....I've been having coffee ground emisis....



So honestly, I believe this woman has cancer if you say so, but...even though I believe a tiger can change it's stripes, I still keep a wary eye out.

Thanks, Eva. Please don't make me out to be a saint, though. I'm still not going to be this woman's best friend. If she wants to talk about it, I'll listen as long as she respects some resonable boundaries.

Chai, your co-worker sounds like a pathological liar! Good luck with that

She's not a pathological liar, that would imply anybody would believe her. One of her main problems is that she has no filters...if some little fantasy is going on in her mind, it just spills out her mouth and she may not even realize she's talking. I've said this before, but she's like one of those dolls where if you pull the string NOTHING will stop her until the cord totally retracts back in. The problem is, simply walking into the same room, or saying hi pulls the string....it's actually pretty funny, you can totally walk away from her, go into your office, take a phone call, and still hear her talking for another 2 minutes. She can see you're not there, I don't think she even realizes her mouth is moving.

Oh, thanks for wishing me luck, but I've grown so accustomed to this, I started in 1998, she started one year later.

Anyway didn't mean to hijack your thread....I can definitly understand what you said about not going to become this womans best friend, and keeping boundaries. That's very wise. Not like she's going to pull anything, it's just that, cold as it might sound, having cancer does not automatically qualify you for amnesty for your entire life.

You don't have to be her best friend to help.

Small kindnesses are what keep people going, Swimpy.

I am GOIN' to hell. Yep, hell, I tell ya. How can you hate a woman who has cancer? People who are goin' to hell can. I'm going to have to kill her though. That's all there is to it.

She's milking this illness for all it's worth. I'm sure she's sick. She's going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I feel bad for her. but I'm going to killer her. She comes in to work every damn day, but refuses to do anything. Nothing, I tell you. She does nothing. OK, that's an exageration. She answers the phone. She orders everyone around. We had to hire a temp so the filing would get done.


I'm goin' to hell.

Swimpy--

I know exactly what you mean. You aren't headed for hell, you're getting to skip six squares on the Highway to Heaven.

Thanks for listening, Noddy. She's not here today, so we all get a respite.

Oooh. I haven't dealt with the cancer aspect but I've dealt with a similar "poor pitiful me you can't possibly expect me to do all of that when I have this terrible ailment hey don't put that there! Duh! It goes over there..." types.

You're a good person.

I'm not that good :wink:

The biggest problem now is that the temp is realizing the mess K has made of the files. The temp asked the boss if he wanted her to fix all the problems or have K do it. The boss told the temp that when she finds problems, she should take them to K to fix. OK, fine, she does that. K takes the file. Keeps it at her desk for a day or two and gives it back to the temp having done nothing to correct the problem. The temp has gone to the boss many times and he doesn't do anything about it. The temp is ready to quite. The temp is good.

Sorry to rant.

K seems to have figured out that the boss is unwilling to enforce any rules, so why play by the rules?

It sounds like she has earned some leniency but has gone way beyond that.

Yep, you hit the nail on he head.

hope you're enjoying your In-House Holiday...