Posted on 07/10/2006 by the cynic
Viewed: 387 times
Did anyone ever make a slip-up at work and then get an email addressed to the whole office rather than just to you? And it was something others had been doing for years, but nobody said a word until you did it?
I was working at my college work-study job, and the graduate students and PhD's used to always banter back and forth on the main listserv. For instance, the lab director would write something about a study on brain function, and a grad student would "reply all" and say something like, "Yeah, my brain could use some functioning" (or something like that). Nobody ever said a word....until the day the undergraduates did the same thing.
Some email was sent out, and an undergrad put a bantering message in the "reply all," just as the grads and profs had done for years. I replied back with my own wise remark.
It wasn't but a minute later, we got an email from the lab director addressed to the whole lab, saying, "Guys, the email system is for work-related purposes only. Please do not use it for "personal bantering" and clog up our servers. Use some common sense and courtesy. Thanks."
This also happened when I was working with kids and was running late for a staff meeting (it was a 45-min drive out of town on rural roads in December). Senior staff were always strolling in late as they pleased; and boss never said a word. That day that I was late due to the snow, the director MAKES AN ANNOUNCEMENT in the middle of the meeting:
"Guys, I'd like to address a problem I'm noticing. I pay you some precious money to come to these meetings, and I'm noticing that a few of you like to be late. I do not pay you X dollars an hour to walk into my meetings late, so please come to these things on time. Lateness is discourteous because it breaks our budget, and well, it hurts the children as well, because you are taking money away from a tightly-budgeted organization that serves them....blah, blah, blah....."
POST A COMMENTfreedomringer(07/10/2006)
This is common with professionals. They want the perks just for those who qualify. The best way to deal with this is remember that intelligence and education are not always linked traits. These people like to exclude people from what they deem is proffessional and non-professional. White collar vs. blue collar. It is a very old and common way to discriminate against people. I think it is because these people feel they have achieved some level of sucess and that the perks only belong to them. It stems from their insecurity and not you. I have had to deal with this my entire career because I work in academia, where proffessional snobbery is very common. I try not to take it personally, but I also work hard to not do this unto others. I am kind to everyone until that courtesy is not returned to me, then I will not even acknowledge these people. I am not rude but, I do not go out of my way to be kind to them either. For example, I let the elevator door close just before they reach it. I smile all the way to work after that.
the cynic(07/10/2006)
I've heard it called RHIP (Rank Has Its Privileges), haha!
the confessor(07/10/2006)
You, me, the Discovery Channel.
twiz(07/11/2006)
I like the folks who reply to those "all company e-mails" saying please stop e-mailing the whole company, but they also reply to the "whole" company. Then everyone starts responding using the "reply all" feature and next thing you know there is an all out e-mail war. Great times.
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