12.19.2007

anyone

Bro's two coworkers have been in cahoots for months, gleefully planning Elaborate Activities for fun holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. Good on them; kids should have fun in jail afterschool care. Problem: They're excluding Bro from planning and prep. Even if the reason for such exclusion is Bro's perceived lack of enthusiasm, I find the mere existence of such a problem interesting because this is the very same sort of work ethic that would frustrate my former coworker and me - at the same jail afterschool care job eons ago. The fact that my former coworker is Bro's current coworker is what makes it most interesting. I was lucky because I got the best of that coworker's integrity, while Bro is getting the worst.

True, Bro doesn't make it easy. He isn't nuts about these Elaborate Activities, for one thing, and I personally think he should step it up and act like he cares a little more, or else find another job. But he does make a good point: if they are going to plan EAs regardless of his distaste for them, they shouldn't do everything behind his back or around him. The director should discuss and plan with both lackeys (Bro is a lackey, so is the coworker in cahoots with the director) instead of polarizing the lackeys, totally alienating one of them and shopping for candy eyeballs while discussing underwear preferences with the other. The director should be in charge, and delegate equally. I'm never surprised to hear about jail wardens afterschool care directors sucking, but it disappoints when it's one who used to be so good to work with. That's why I recommended this job to Bro in the first place.

In contrast, a similar situation that had me in a tailspin at my own workplace this afternoon is nowhere near as distressing. I possess excellent communication skills (don't always use them, but sure do have them) and now that I'm better at 1) not "helping" people who don't need my "help" (see above situation and realize that I blogged it, didn't send it along as advice 2) tending in a timely manner to my own stuff and 3) calming down before I verbally tend to that stuff - well, things aren't exactly peachy but I make my point. A sense of humor helps, as well as a willingness to see the same situation from someone else's point of view. Communication is key. If you won't talk about it, how can anything be resolved?

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