And Suddenly, It Was Silly

The office has been very passive-aggressive lately.  Lots of people spending hours documenting how other people screwed up, stuff like that.  There were a few days when it was focused on me, with people calling me into meetings with my boss, telling her how annoying and egocentric I am (moi?), how I never listen to other people's ideas, how difficult I am.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a touch - but just a touch.  It was really focused like a (heh heh) laser beam, Mr. Bigglesworth.

So I dealt with it as I often do, turning inward, feeling picked on and generally sorry for myself.  Complaining and eating more chocolate than I should.  Then the other day, I just couldn't do it any more.  I had reached what my friend M., the Office Oracle, calls the "f*ck it point" (tangent:  why are astericks the pasties of the alphabet world?  It's okay if the whole rest of the swear word is hanging out in the wind like Mariah Carey in a tube top, as long as that darn vowel is covered!).  So yesterday, when the entire department started imploding like an old Las Vegas hotel, I just found it...funny.  Aha!  Hello, sense of humor!  I've missed you since you've been gone.

I took my newfound attitude to my class, where we proceeded to discuss how best to offer solutions in their position essays.   I reminded them that a good position essay always acknowledges the opposition, concedes or refutes it, and then, if possible, offers a solution that supports the thesis while taking into account the opposition. For instance, if the opposition is saying that fixing something will cost too much money, you probably shouldn't propose a million-dollar solution.  Then I thought of work, in which that just happened, and I chortled to myself.  I decided not to tell the 18-year-olds what awaits them in Corporate America.  Let them think we know what we're doing for a year or two more.