Update on Little Mary Sunshine...

A few days ago I blogged about a co-worker who is being a pain in the arse towards me for some reason I've yet to discover. And, I had a temper tantrum, which is definitely not my style in the workplace. I thought I'd update my readers on how this incident has transpired since my outburst.

Today was my first day back at work; I had the dental surgery done on Wednesday, and ended up calling in yesterday because I was still in a lot of pain. So, I was interested to see if she'd be over whatever her snit was.

Before I go on, let me say this. I am generally not this negative about the younger generation. I am, like every other older generation, jaded and cynical about the foibles of youth. I also remember my own youth quite well, thank you, and try to give them a break when I can. However, I do see where we, as a generation have indulged our youth to a very dangerous point. I think if there was to be a major disaster of some sort, there would be a lot of people in all age groups who would not be able to survive because they have never felt it important enough to learn to cook from scratch, repair clothing, garden, hunt or fish, basically, know how to live off the land, or get by on the bounty of the earth.

And, what would they do without television or video games?

This girl is one of those. Her focus in life is to watch television and take naps and go out with her friends and drink. Sad, isn't it? And, she's only 22!

But, back to the original story. A staff meeting was called for today for our supervisor to try to get things out in the open so all of us would be on the same page.

We gathered in the conference room. He handed us a packet of stapled papers. New schedules were attached for our perusal. The intent was to reduce how many of us were scheduled on each day. (There are usually four of us bumping into each other.) The new schedule was done to only keep three of us working on each day, as much as possible. The new schedule has worked out so that we're all there one day a week, which will be necessary for staff meetings anyway.

After we looked at the schedule, Supervisor (hereafter known as S) said, "I've decided we will go with option 1. This schedule will not change those of you on overnights. It will not change those of you who come in at 6 a.m. It will change the days off for Kate and "J". And, just so you all know. Kate and J are the only two folks who came to me and said they were willing to do what it took to make the schedule work. So, Kate, you have the most dramatic schedule change. You're going to be off on Friday before you work a weekend. That way you won't be working a six day stretch without a break. You're the only one who had a work stretch that long and it's not right."

Litte Mary Sunshine was pissed. Heh heh. I looked over at her and simply smiled. I wasn't sneery or anything. I tried to make my smile genuine and not triumphant. After all, I do want to take the high ground.

And, then he said something truly amazing. He said, "Besides LMS and RPG, J and Kate have *seniority*. They *will* get things because they've already paid their dues."

YES!!!!

Next on the agenda was the issue on whether or not to add a "redraw" log to our daily paperwork. As you might guess, there are times when we're not able to get a blood sample for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the baby just doesn't bleed well, or sometimes there is equipment failure. And, there's a host of things in between.

LMS exploded, "We don't need a redraw sheet! *I* haven't had a redraw for five weeks!"

The problem is, yes, she has. Everyone has redraws. Every single flippin' one of us. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just a part of the job. But, we let her carry on, thinking that she was perfect. I wasn't about to get into it with her; I'm sure she would have demanded times and dates. *shakes head* Who gives a flying f***?

Apparently she does. J, S, and I met on further business after the meeting. He said that he's got logs of several redraws that LMS has had. He figures it isn't a big deal, and he doesn't even worry about it, but realizes he may have to sit LMS down and give her the bad news that she's not as perfect as she claims to be.

But, she wasn't done yet. The other day I made a goof. I was out doing a draw and I plain and simple forgot to draw a tube. It was one of those things where I was looking at the req in a pretty dark room and I didn't see the check off until I was done and back out in the hallway. The mother was nursing so I explained my mess up and said I'd be back in about 20 minutes to get the sample.

But, that was when I had my temper tantrum, so I told the boys and LMS that they'd have to go back and pick up that sample in about 20. LMS tried to make an issue of it - "SOME PEOPLE forget to draw tubes and then WE have to go back and apologize to the parents and stick that child again..." (I was mentally rolling my eyes at how hard she was trying - she really wanted to name names and get into it.

Thing is, I'm not even mad. I was only mad for about ten minutes anyway. I said my piece to my boss and went on. She's still stewing about whatever it is that's stuck in her craw. And, age has its advantages. Now she just looks silly and immature. And, pretty soon the whole lab will be sick and tired of her childish acting out.

She and one of the men she adores flirting with have had an exchange as well. He has seen the light, so to speak. Their goofing around got a bit carried away several days ago. He started thinking about this and emailed her - (he told me this directly) - that the goofing around was going to stop; he would be acting professionally from now on. He also told her that they had crossed a serious line that day in their goofing around and it was quite likely that both of them would be written up for their antics. Now, this guy has been on staff for well over 15 years. I'm sure he's not wanting that kind of stuff in his record, nor wanting to lose his job over stupid stuff.

She wrote back to him and said: "OMG! I'm SO scared."

That clinched it for him. She thinks the whole incident is funny and it would be hilarious to get written up for goofing around in the lab.

I suspect she's not going to make it through probation. I'll keep you informed of the antics as they proceed. Situation Normal All F***** Up.