I work in a large medical office right now with really great people who are easy to get along with, and easy to work with...All except for one person: This wierd twitchy psycho with no people skills I'll call Fat Cat lady (she has, like, four cats). I'm one of three people there who handles the records. The other two I'll call Sensitive Lady and Tiny Grandma--technically, my teammates ^_^.I just started there, so I'm still learning the swing of things. If I mess up on something, she jumps on Sensitive Lady with both feet and just about jumps all over the poor woman. Sensitive Lady cries if you jump all over her like a hyena on a crippled deer, and Fat Cat Lady is notorious for not having any social graces in the workplace--really, not a one. I've already gone to Fat Cat Lady once and asked her to inform me if she catches any of my mistakes. I mean, communication is good, right? Not good enough for perfectionist psycho Fat Cat Lady, apparently. In the last weeks, she's felt it her obligation to practically do a portion of my job herself instead of allowing me to go and do my thing. I haven't had a chance to really learn it well enough yet because of her interfering. I have too much self-respect to go pining after her to get her to let me do certain things. She isn't my boss, and she isn't supposed to be doing it anyways.
Ok, so now you know what I'm dealing with. Now for the meat portion of this story:
I had missed a chart in some records I had pulled the previous day for Fat Cat Lady to do her job on. If you recall, I've asked her to communicate with me if I make a mistake. It's a polite, courteous and efficient thing to do. I watched her walk over to Sensitive Lady, snatch the chart out of who knows where, and snap at Sensitive Lady that it hadn't been pulled and implied that somehow it was her fault. Sensitive Lady looked at her and said, "who pulled the records yesterday?"
Fat Cat Lady said that I had pulled them (which I had). She then thundered off to her cave on the other side of the building.
Guys, Sensitive Lady, though she has been teaching me when she has time, had NOTHING to do with what I did that day! After swallowing my fear of confrontation and a huge adrenaline surge, I marched over to Fat Cat Lady's cave, and I LET HER HAVE IT. I am in no way quick to anger, nor am I confrontational. I hate confrontation. It terrifies me! I'm usually one who tries to be diplomatic first. However, watching her pick on Sensitive Lady snapped something.
I went into Fat Cat's cave, and said to her, "Look, Sensitive Lady is not my babysitter. I asked you before that if I miss something, you tell ME, NOT HER! I was standing RIGHT THERE. You could have just walked over to me to let me know what I missed." And I walked out of her office and shut the door before she could finish her excuse. After calming down, I went to the Office Manager and explained that I had just had words with Fat Cat Lady, and if she heard any complaints about me, it was because of the reasons I just named above. What really bothers me, is that the Office Manager was trying to make excuses for Fat Cat lady! The bosses at our office wanted to fire Fat Cat lady because she is extremely rude and blunt with people alot and it pisses everyone off. As a solution, Office Manager put Fat Cat lady in her own little hole by herself, isolated in a remote part of the office. It doesn't really solve the problem, just prolongs the inevitable.
POST A COMMENTtawanda(04/25/2006)
Unfortunately, Office Manager and the Supervisors knowing of this "ladies" hateful, overbearing, bullying conduct obligates them to protect the rest of you. It is a hostile work environment, plain and simple. If they don't take appropriate steps to protect the rest of you they might as well hand over the company checkbook. They are giving the rest of you the amunition you need to complain to the EEOC and / or file suit. I do hope, for your sake and that of the other two ladies, that isolating this tyrranical woman works, but locking her away won't help her resolve her issues with interpersonal communication...
tawanda(04/25/2006)
Do you happen to know who has the most seniority within your area? Do the ladies you work with feel comfortable speaking to the Office Manager directly? If they aren't comfortable, that's okay - they are entitled to their feelings. Maybe they would be more comfortable if you could get the Office Manager to come to your area where the four of you can speak more comfortably... I would also recommend carrying a micro-cassette recorder with you - the next time the nasty "lady" decides to have one of her moments you need to capture it on tape for YOUR protection. :)
Shoe(04/26/2006)
CatLady and SensitiveLady have some unresolved history together. Perhaps repeat mistakes in training are an issue and CatLady has a horrible case of work burnout.
Dharmadee(04/26/2006)
Look at it this way-at least she is not your manager!!! She sounds just like mine.
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