Mandatory Fun

To make everything perfectly clear, I'm not really a party/gathering person. Crowds of people I don't really know tend to make me clam up, and stand off by myself. The one exception to this is gaming. When I'm gaming, I'm not really me, so it doesn't matter how I act, what I do, or what I say.

Fast foward to today. My boss gives me crap periodically about not going to department parties. To be fair, I've gone to all the ones I could, and the rest I have real excuses why I didn't go. Today though, she tells me that the accounting christmas thingie is "Mandatory Fun"

MANDATORY FUN? What the hell is that? I was probably going to go anyways, just because there was free food and such, but making it "mandatory" just made it torture. Most of the accounting people are ok. However, there's 5 or 6 who have designated themselves "Fun Police" for you Broken Lizard fans out there. Just hearing their shrill voices sets me on edge. So now I get to go stand in a huge crowd of people in a probably 10x30 space, fight some 600 pound woman for a cookie and a juice squeeze, and then stand in the corner away from everyone until I can escape, rather than getting something done, like supporting our users on the system like I'm paid to!

Afterwards, I explained to my boss my dislike of crowds, and she seemed to understand, which helps greatly. Maybe I won't have to do this again.

Yeah right.

Whispering is the fastest way to get noticed

You know, in an office environment, it's pretty standard for people to ignore what's happening on the other side of the cube wall. You have to, otherwise you never get anything done. That said, nothing attracts more attention than whispering! When you whisper, people want to know what you're saying.

I understand the need for confidentiality in the workplace, but when people sit in the cube next to mine, and whisper at the volume that I can only make out snippets, it immediately distracts me. I can't concentrate, because it's like having a buzzing in your ear! I end up paying more attention when you whisper than when you speak normally in a low tone!

In closing, take you goddamn gossip to the break room, or away from my cube!

Screenshots

Mini Rant:

What the hell is the obsession with screenshots in documentation these days? Are people no longer capable of reading? I mean, I can understand the occasional screenshot, say when you're trying to illustrate a difficult concept, and an image just makes it easier to explain, but for some reason, everything needs a screenshot these days! Making a change to a configuration? We need a screenshot before, and a screenshot during, and a screenshot after.

WHY?

We know what the configuration looked like before. That's why we have audit tables, and backups. We know what it's going to look like after, it's the current configuration! Don't even get me started on during... I feel like everything I do needs to be recorded, so that when everyone else feels comfortable with being able to follow what I do, they can get rid of me.

People don't listen anymore

Before we start this, yes I realize the irony inherent in making a post on a blog about people not listening. On to the crux of the situation!

For some reason, people have been coming up to me and asking my opinion/advice on how to do things. As long as I have some sort of grasp on the subject, I tell them what I think. Invariably, this leads to the statement:

"That's not a bad idea. I'm going to go with "

After I explain what I see wrong in their idea, and explain why I think mine might be better (Not that I'm always right, but I suggested it for a reason), we always come down to:

"Well, thanks for the advice, but I'm going with my first idea."

God damnit, if you just want validation for your idea, just ask me what I think of yours! Don't ask me for advice and just pray that I'm going to say what you're thinking! It's obvious when someone is actually looking for advice, and when someone just wants to be told they're doing the right thing. Ask for what you want!