I don't mean to be so absent. I'm present, fully present, in my life, which I suppose dictates that I must be more absent here. I'm outside of my head lately, and it's only when I'm inside my head that I feel the urge to post, to explore what's there. I'm reacting without really thinking, which I don't like but is becoming more and more familiar.
Work has been very, very difficult. The company is broke to the point where I feel guilty about cashing my pay check-- even though the company's bank will cover it so it won't bounce, I know there's not enough money in the account to pay it. We're struggling through, day to day, trying to pay bills. The SBA and all other avenues we've tried for small business funding have fallen though. Apparently you have to prove that you don't need money (that you're able to pay your bills off in time and that you have a good credit history) before they will give you any money. I know they have to cover their own asses, but what's the point in giving a loan to someone who already has money? If we had money to cover our bills, we wouldn't need a loan.
Luckily the rest of my life has been peachy. All my Christmas shopping is done, and I got some great deals on some perfect presents. We're hosting Christmas lunch at my house with both my parents and my husband's family. We've been spending a lot of time with friends, trying to keep our minds off the dismal work environments we're both dealing with. Boone is growing into a very good dog, the only problem being that he likes to keep the backyard clean... he seems to think Bub is dirtying it when he goes #2, so Boone "cleans" it up... I won't go into more detail there. We're exploring options.
One thing that has been on my mind the last couple of days-- how do you react to rudness? There's a woman who works for us on special projects on a contract basis from her home out west. We have a project that she's been working on that has to be done by next week, so she's stressed, which I understand. But when I said something she didn't like in an email (it wasn't mean, it just wasn't what she wanted to hear), she came back with an insult about my knowledge level of the project and a suggestion that if I wanted it to continue, perhaps I should be the one staying up late to work on it. It was both unprofessional and counterproductive, not to mention rude. My coworker, who is managing the project internally, talked to her, told her to cool off and get back to work, but she has yet to apologize to me for her snap. At this point I'm filing it away, knowing that when she's done with this project I'll make a huge push to never use her again for future projects. I also feel myself leaning towards being a little slower in my replies and a little less friendly too, but I'm trying to just swallow the burnt taste and let it go. What would you do?
this is a great post. I hate to say it but I don't always react well to rudeness. I either bear it and then resent the person; or I react and regret it. I think you handled it well by dealing with it but involving someone who has authority.
ReplyDeleteSmall businesses struggling fall into a void in our current economy. No one wants to loan money, I am trying to get a loan for a turbine/solar panel system that would free us from a bill that runs 6,000 a month during the summer. You would think that the bank would see that I would have all that extra cash to pay them ..........
ReplyDeleteThe dog situation is one I am familiar with. I was told to put yeast in the dogfood and that would make the poo undelectable to the dog's palate. I didn't try it. She still cleans up occasionally, but will stop when I scold her.
It is so easy to apologize for being rude, makes you wonder why anyone would prolong the misery.
It's nice to see you here again. Nothing wrong with being fully present in life. I'm sorry to hear things at work are so challenging.
ReplyDeleteRude people are often very frightened people. It sounds like you handled the situation perfectly. It might be helpful for her to know at some point that her behavior is going to cost her business. Not sure if that would be your job to tell her, but someone should.
Email communication is so tricky because it's harder to be subtle and to soften irritation. Maybe a face to face with her would help in some way.