Chix Chat

Per your request, I did indeed stop and pray for you today as you’re at work. Well, don’t keep me hangin’ - how did it go?

I am the same way as you: even when I’m right, I do not like to be at odds with people and I don’t like for them to think that I’m wrong. I know you can’t help what people think, but it is upsetting to say the least when they’re giving you a hard time for stuff that isn’t true!

I agree that God doesn’t want us to stay at jobs where people act that way. I liked your plan: to be the best employee there so that even Nora can see it, and then to leave.

I was wondering if you’d told your parents and what they said. It’s probably best not to mention it if you think that they will hurry over there and tell her where to go. I think that would be the worst possible thing to happen; it would definitely hurt more than help. I mean, if she won’t believe you, she surely won’t believe your family. She’d say, "Well of course they’d take her side."

I still can hardly believe that Nora is the same woman that you’ve told me about before. I remember your concern the time she had to come back so soon after her surgery that she didn’t get a chance to recuperate. And then she springs something like this on you.

Her recent tirade reminds me very much of a boss I used to have: Joewiel. (Pronounced "Joe-well".) He was the manager at the ***** where I worked for about a year. I believe I’ve already mentioned him before under worst job ever or worst boss ever. Yep, those are him! I could give mucho examples, but I’ll just give one. I was by myself in the store one day, until I was joined by one of our roving sales representatives, whose name I forget, so I’ll call him Greg. A customer came in looking for a paint sprayer, and Greg was talking to him. I figured that would be the best, because Greg knew more than I did about the sprayers. Eventually, Greg sent the guy to the commercial products store. Several days later, Joewiel called me into the office; he was literally fuming because the customer said that I sent him to the commercial store. I said, "*Greg* told him to go there." Joewiel obviously didn’t believe me, and he obviously wasn’t interested in hearing my side. As I recall this was about the time he came to me out of the blue saying that I wasn’t performing up to snuff, that I wasn’t learning all I could about the business. I was going to college at that time too, and I did not sign up there as an intern! I was a salesperson for Pete’s sake. About the time he became really impossible like that, I turned in my notice.

I remember the other guy that worked there was telling me not to let Joewiel make me quit that job. I thought, "I’m not planning to retire from here, so what exactly do I gain by staying? I am not working every day with that dictator."

Joewiel differed from Nora in that he was pretty much always a jerk, but some days he wasn’t as bad as others. It wasn’t like with you where everything was fine and then BLAM!

I just remembered another of Joewiel’s quirks: there were three employees in that store including him, yet whenever he’d tell us something it was always, "You and .. the other one" and he’d say "the other one" as if the name truly escaped him. Or perhaps he didn’t want to waste his precious time saying our insignificant names.

Anyway, here I am pretty busy.  We are having a booth in a local business exhibition, so I get to print the brochures, etc. I hope that I don’t have to stay too long at the booth during the actual exhibit, because I cannot speak intelligently about whatever business these people do. I would just hand them a brochure and the bosses’ card and say, "They’ll be happy to talk to you." I’m sure the receiver of the card is thinking, "Then why aren’t they *here* to talk to me?"

Did I tell you that my bosses’ daughter had her baby Friday night? It was a boy - seven pounds and some-odd ounces. Mother and baby are doing well. I do not know what they named him. My sister asked, "Did they give him some weird name?" I thought, "No, I’m sure they gave him the name they wanted him to have."

That’s it for today. Talk to you soon! GOD BLESS!

Anne