In praise of Mucinex...

Every year about this time, my seasonal allergies kick in and my sinuses conspire to kill me. My head fills up like a balloon and my nose either runs like Niagra Falls making me choke at odd intervals or stops up completely and prevents me from breathing normally. This year it is particularly bad leaving me to hope for that first hard frost when finally all that nasty pollen and leaf junk will stop blowing around.

I live for Benadryl at this time of year. Benadryl is that amazing little allergy medicine that takes the itchiness out of my running eyes and blocked up ears. But most of all I live for Mucinex!

Mucinex is a wonder drug. It's a huge horse pill that you can buy over the counter but costs an arm and a leg to get. Just choke down one of those lovely large pills and suddenly the nose is clear, the drainage stops, the eyes stop running, and, ahhhhh, I can breathe freely.

Today at work I was out of Mucinex. Around 3pm I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't even able to talk on the phone because I kept choking on my own...well, you know. I knew my co-worker had some Mucinex...in her desk...and she was not at work. What to do!?
I mean, I am not the sort that rifle through other peoples' personal space but I was in desperate need! Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I really couldn't. I had to get it. So I did it. I opened her drawer and opened her medicine box and here it was...one last lovely Mucinex. So I took it! I felt horrible for doing it too but I was going downhill fast.

After work I 'fessed up. I met my co-worker for dinner and told her I had rifled through her drawer. She didn't care. But I was still full of guilt and couldn't rest until I told her! All those years of Catholic school I guess!

So all's well that ends well. But seriously, if you have allergies...Mucinex D. Highly recommend it!

Some days are better than others...

Some days at work are better than others. Sometimes I have a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling that I've made a difference in someone's life. Somedays I I feel smart and come up with some great solutions to some tough problems. Somedays I feel empowered and get the feeling that my bosses really see me as an asset to this agency.

And then...somedays...it's like this!

What comes around goes around...

There's this lady at work, someone I supervise, who always feels that everyone is out to get her. She is eternally suspicious of everyone and doesn't believe that people sometimes can do nice things just to be nice. It's frustrating and one of her character flaws that can be very annoying. However, that being said, she can also be extremely funny and personable at times which endears her to me in spite of her paranoia. She often seeks out people to "take sides" and likes to hole up behind closed office doors to "chat" even though there's really nothing to "chat" about. At one time, there was another case manager there who fed right into all of her fears. Together they created a tiny world of paranoid delusions and caused all manner of distress for their co-workers.

Her cohort up and quit one day. Despite her personality, she was treated very well by me and the upper management but when she quite she chose to walk out without notice which, I'm sure, she felt "taught" us a lesson, though we are hard pressed to know what that might be. Her departure, naturally, left the other one high and dry without a cohort and office collaborator. For a time, she came and went from work in a huff as though we had all been responsible for the other's leaving. Then she started to calm down and started to actually interact with the others and found out they really weren't all that bad and no one was really out to get her. She kept in touch with her former co-worker and, occasionally, I would overhear phone conversations between them where, at least for the one side I could hear, I and the other were being fairly trashed. I shrugged it off because that stuff just doesn't bother me.

Lo and behold, today the worm has turned. Apparently, the other one - the one that left - was now calling Ms. Paranoid Case Manager and asking - no, demanding - certain business related favors that would benefit her new employer. Though paranoid, she's not stupid, and she quickly reminded her former co-worker that it was hugely unprofessional to even ask. This led to a quick exchange of nasty words which completely shocked her. She was completely thrown that her former co-worker, commiserator, and friend had not only laid into her but then hung up abruptly.

She came to me to tell me this had happened. She was upset and very hurt but she was also very pragmatic and good about the whole thing. After our talk, she turned to me as she left my office and said "Well, you could have told me what a snake she was!!" I just laughed and reminded her, "It wouldn't have made any difference if I had!"

Positive Monkey Training

I used to have a supervisor who would start every team meeting by making us sit in a circle and then go around and say something positive that happened that day. At the time, ten years ago, I thought this guy was a dork. Being resourceful and something of an actress, I was always able to come up with something or just make something up and make it seem convincingly true. Today, I am a supervisor of a team of twelve who all have their own unique quirks and personality malfunctions. Those quirks and malfunctions sometimes bring on the most delightful drama. I say 'delightful' because after a very long time on this job I have become remarkably un-chuffed about just about anything. I do, however, have to keep the peace and give the place an air of fairness so I have resorted to the previously thought dorkiness of getting them to say something positive. It's sounds so trite but actually it works.

It works on two levels. First, there are always those Polly Perky's who see everything in a positive light. Frankly, they irritate me but they have their place too. They will always be at the ready to share some little ray of sunshine with the group and top it all off with an excited, wide smile. They hold the high end of the work place jump rope, always remembering birthdays and anniversaries and marking them with just the appropriate gift. They always have full candy dishes on their desks and they are always willing to participate in anything which, though irritatingly perky, does set a good example for the other not-so-perky members of the crew. Those Grouchy Monkeys comprise the second level of this connection. Everyone has experienced the presence of the constant complainer on the job. These are the people who, no matter what happens, always suspect it happened for some undisclosed reason that will only mean more work for them or, in the end, complete doom. They come to meetings already having taken the time to spread ample rumors as to what will be discussed and whatever they think it is, it is always something horrible. They hold the low end of the jump rope and are rarely willing to participate in anything. In fact, to get them to take part it has to be practically mandated by the CEO as a condition of their on-going employment.

The reasoning behind getting these two groups together, in one room, and making them start off by saying something positive is pretty easy to see. The Perkys will jump right in and probably have more than one positive statement to contribute. The Monkeys will hold back, start talking begrudgingly but, eventually, will also begin to open up. Exactly what they say really doesn't matter though it can help if a Perky says something positive about a Monkey. That will bring even the most determined Monkey around in no time. It is, rather, the mere act of speaking at all that counts. Once people get talking it's hard for them to easily pull back into skulking mode.

Of course, there are Monkeys who will never come around. They will stand there ground and continue undermining the general atmosphere of the place. In those cases, the best practice may be a swift and sincere "You're fired."