Wednesday, December 9

Misery Demands Company

Among the people I work with is one woman who really wants you to know how busy she is. So busy that as early as 9:00 in the morning she will stroll into my office and talk about how full her life is and how many demands there are on her time. Despite, or maybe, because of working in an extremely busy law office, I have never come across a fellow worker who complains about their life in this way before. Although I have, of course, met them elsewhere. But it's not whining I smell, it's power. This woman with her gushing "Gosh, did I tell you just how busy I am?" manner apparently thinks she has more meaning in her life because she is a "busy, busy, busy" women while I merely come off as simple, simple simpleton. When she happens into my office and addresses me with her perpetual stream of complaints, I generally just sit and say nothing. Oh, sure I have offered advise of how should could organize herself differently, delegate certain tasks to others in able to alleviate some of her suffering, but I'm always wrong. In her virtual reality power game, I am less important than her, less intelligent and unlikely to understand the true heart of any and all modes of panic she seems to find herself in. I have a similar status to a child as I sit at my desk while she rattles on, probably. I am definitely expected to keep quiet and not interrupt, unless I am affirming that she is, in fact, irrefutably busy. On a certain level I feel sorry for her. It must be really crap to live in a perpetual state of discontent, and such a constant need for power and attention. But an air of understanding in this situation is hard to maintain. If she is so wonderfully busy why is she talking to me? Most people in my office have so much to do, they don't have time to stand around and chat. An annoying git if there ever was one.

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