Friday, January 11, 2008

Friday-what-ous?

I like to think I'm a fairly intelligent person, and that I work with intelligent people. I also like to think that the people I come into contact with through work are intelligent as well; I mean, they hold a job, so they have to be a little smart. Well, today I found out that apparently that's all you have to be to hold a job...a little smart.

But a little background first. I have been doing work on Fort Lewis for the past two months or so. It's been very interesting work and I've really enjoyed it. What I haven't enjoyed is the circuitous communication that's required by this project's contract. Technically, the company I work for is a subconsultant to another firm (we'll call them Firm XYZ) who actually has the contract with the military. In order to ask questions or get any of the data we need, we have to ask Firm XYZ, who asks the contact at Fort Lewis, who gets the information, gives it to Firm XYZ, who then gives it to us. As you tell, this is quite the efficient way to do things (yeah right).

Anyway, the woman who I speak with at Firm XYZ to get the information is so peppy it kills me. I swear she came out of cheerleader bootcamp - she just oozes cheerfulness. I called her today because she was supposed to email the Fort Lewis contact with a letter attachment about a site visit I'm doing next week and cc me, but I didn't see the email. When I called her she said something along the lines of "Did I not cc you on the email? Oh my goodness, I'm such a boob! I'll forward you the email." Who uses the word "boob" at work? Especially when talking to someone who you barely know, who you have never met face to face? As if that wasn't enough to cause alarm, in the email she forwarded me, she wrote (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Sorry about the email! I must have Friday-idous!" Friday-what-ous? You mean, Friday-itis? As in arthritis? Appendicitis? Even senioritis? How did this woman get her job? More importantly, how does she keep it? I do not mean to be harsh, I'm just quite surprised - and a little sad at the state of our education system. In fact, it's giving me encephalitis (inflammation of the brain, for those of you not up on your itis-es).

3 comments:

Jen said...

I was just commenting to a co-worker that very few people actually seem competent at their jobs. Her response? "It's amazing bridges aren't falling down every day." Indeed, it is.

At least Miss Chipper is not in charge of building anything... :)

Unknown said...

She has a case of the stupid-idious ( or stupiditis in the smart world)!

Tanya said...

I always say 80% (and that's generous) of the population is effing retarded! Ahhh, ignorance is bliss :)