I was instant messaging JC (our central office) to tell them I was sending color pages over the wires, when a note popped up.
"PAGES LEFT!!!!?????" Then the phone rang.
"Why aren't you messaging?"
"Huh! We have been, all night." One doesn't waste words with that guy. We call him Mr. McGrumpiFlick, if you get my drift.
"It isn't working. Reboot it."
"But we are getting your messages!" MMGF muttered some more, but I'd already started to hang up, and I decided not to stop.
Boss asked what was up, and I told him. He, too, looked at all the messages on the board. We hadn't noticed that they were staying highlighted, even after we opened them. The phone rang again, and since it was MMGF, I said nothing but instead handed it directly to Boss.
After a short explanation, he hung up, amused. "MMGF said he was afraid you forgot how to use the system." He knows I have MS. I was not amused. I am instant messaging because Boss does not know how to initialize the system. We have instructions, but he lost his (read forgot where he put them) and doesn't remember how.
I got a message from the now re-booted system. "WELL!!!" Presumably because I hung up.
So, because I have MS, everyone assumes I can't remember anything. But I took note that Mr. McGrumpiFink didn't say anything to my face. He knows I'd tear him a new one. And I can pretty much guess what he calls me.
pb
Little Pond
7 comments:
Advice: Outlive the curmudgeon.
That's a tough one. He's at least a decade younger than me. I'm probably the oldest person in the advertising/composing end of production here.
I probably should mention that we are all usually cordial with each other. This is the sort of business that drives people to each other's throats fairly often.
Another point. This fellow honestly didn't think I would survive the first few years after my diagnosis.
Outliving the adversary may indeed be the best revenge, after all.
So watch this space...
Ignorance breeds arrogance.
Sayyyy, you don't LOOK like you have MS. Are you sure this is not just all in your head?
bwa-ha-ha-haaaa...
So true! Make sure Mr. McGrumpiFink knows that just because you have M.S., it doesn't mean you still can't tear him a new one. I'd love to see that!
I've never had that particular problem.
Quite the opposite in fact.
I've always been "the genius they keep locked in the basement" and that they run to whenever they had a problem they couldn't solve. (A situation that has been occuring for the past 25 years, regardless of who I was actually working for [and I've rarely worked for any one employer for more than a year and a half.])
I've had MS for thirty years and I've never been treated like I was developmentally disabled. (I've usually been doing the treating.)
I've found that treating ignorant people with respect and a firm but gentle response, (after all, they are ignorant, [but it is a treatable condition,]) usually works to my advantage.
Just try to keep your temper and remeber that stress is usually the result of wanting to stangle some ass-hole who desperatly needs it. :-)
Now that I've tired of the whole software development rat race, I've started a podcast (at http://www.MSBPodcast.com) and, though they pay is non-existant, I've found it quite catarthic and enjoyable.
I hope you come to listen and give men some feed-back (And no, you don't need an iPod. You don't even need iTunes. But it does make the experience more pleasant. :-)
That smacks of discrimation and a hostile work environment. Not acceptable behavior which could cost him his job. Maybe your workplace needs some training on discrimation - yeah, that would TEACH HIM!
err, discrimination, sorry for the typo!
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