10:03 am Saturday, November 04, 2006
Shoo, irritating fly!
It's been a long time since I've woken up so early on a weekend, especially Saturday. By the end of the weekday stretch, I'm so exhausted. Not so much from cracking my brain over work-related issues, but more from dealing with annoying people.It's inevitable that we'll meet annoying people anywhere we go. Take today for example. 2 uncles were talking so loudly at the void deck of the block opposite me that I tossed and turned for hours before I gave up and woke up. And they were still at it.I hate it when I meet such people on the MRT, first thing in the morning. It spoils my entire day. What is worse is if these people work with you, and you have to face them on a daily basis.The past week alone, a few of them have been making my days so much harder to pass. I'm an optimistic and cheerful person in general. I try to be nice, but annoyance builds over time, and push turns to shove. If someone pisses me off, I'll swing into the extreme so fast you wouldn't have time to prepare for it.
The first one is, let's call him the Pusheronous. The Pusheronous delights in delegating work to other colleagues although they are of equal rank and are totally not obliged to help. The Pusheronous pretends that it's a favour that will be returned someday. He is also very clever in flattery and claiming credit for the work that colleagues helped to do. It follows the Boss around, salivating and waiting for a used bone it can chew on, expressing an unreal amount of gratitude when that happens.The second species is the LowEQuerous. Some of them are born like this. Others pretend to be like this, so that they can benefit from it. The LowEQuerous walks into your cubicle for no apparent reason, sits in front of you and does nothing in particular, or walks to stand beside you and blatantly reads what's on your computer screen. Some are harmless, they just irritate and go away when you pretend they're not there.Others intrude into your personal space to intimidate you, to show that they are superior. Though I feel that's a crappy justification. People who need to reassure themselves by doing that are really, really pathetic. I have a few LowEQuerous in my office who have fun interrupting me throughout the day, even when I am plugged into my earphones, frowning at the screen and obviously concentrating on work.The trouble with the LowEQuerous, is that they pretend to be totally unaware that they are being disruptive. So how do you get rid of them? Be harsh and you will be accused of being mean and 'not a team player'. And why so many of them in my office?! Is it something in the water?
The third kind is the Howleronous. This species is a little like the T-Rex, in that it finds delight in towering over and intimidating smaller animals, just because it can. The Howleronous is supposed to be further up on the evolutionary ladder; it had spent many hard years climbing up. But it may not have much good karma around the office. When it howls, even its boss runs out to attend to the matter personally. It is usually futile to attempt a battle with the Howleronous. Because of its status, it wins by default.The last species is the Headless-Chickenserous. Every rustle in the bushes sends it panicking and clucking all over the place. This species is slightly worse than Chicken Little. Chicken Little only ran around screaming that the sky was falling down. The Headless-Chickenserous lives every minute in fear of that, and imposes his view on others, subjecting them to illogical measures. To the Headless-Chickenserous, any suggestion seems like a personal attack. Geez. As if work is not stressful enough, these dinosaurs should all go extinct and leave us alone.BTW, there really was a headless chicken :O
Labels: Concrete Jungle
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The first one is, let's call him the Pusheronous. The Pusheronous delights in delegating work to other colleagues although they are of equal rank and are totally not obliged to help. The Pusheronous pretends that it's a favour that will be returned someday. 
The third kind is the Howleronous. This species is a little like the T-Rex, in that it finds delight in towering over and intimidating smaller animals, just because it can. The Howleronous is supposed to be further up on the evolutionary ladder; it had spent many hard years climbing up. But it may not have much good karma around the office. When it howls, even its boss runs out to attend to the matter personally. It is usually futile to attempt a battle with the Howleronous. Because of its status, it wins by default.
