Wacko Workers

 People are crazy. That’s the self-authored journal note today. Just that. Simple yet true. People are wacko. 

Why do I say that? Well, for many reasons, but top of mind is what’s happening at work. I manage a couple of departments and several managers and directors. Some are easier than others to manage. One is going through some nonsense right now and I really don’t know how to help them out. 

They have a worker, and he’s kind of a jerk. He doesn’t come off as a jerk, he just has this way of being a jerk. Now, we are all jerks in our own way. I’m a jerk often at work. I get asked out to lunch on an almost daily basis. Do I go? Mostly no. I force myself to go to lunches every now and then, but I don’t go as much as others, and I never enjoy it. In fact I despise it. So could I be seen as a jerk about that? Sure. 

But I let the folks know who ask that that’s just not my thing. They seem to get it. And I don’t use it as a cudgel against them either. 

This guy at work does. He looks for reasons to be upset and uses them easily against everyone around him. He’s newish to our organization, and tells us he just wants to be left alone, but the problem is he causes dissection and irritation instead of leaving alone. That’s not fair. You can’t say on the one hand, “I just want to be left alone” and on the other go around gossiping, causing problems, etc. 

At first I thought he didn’t like the leadership. Namely me and the department manager. But now, I’m not so sure. I thought he was the type who felt he could do our jobs better. This is common. Everyone always thinks they can do that other persons job better (more on that later). But, now I’m beginning to think it’s more just his way. I don’t think this guy can work any other way. I think this is how he works. 

Why do I think that? 

Cause if anyone was that unhappy with the job they’d just find a new one right? This is the time to find new ones. Yet, he remains. And we have calls and calls and calls and meetings galore to try and figure out what to do. UGH! It’s such a pain in the ass. And all the time we just want him to either be a part of the team or just go away. Instead, he does neither. He stays and he continues to be an angry nuisance. I feel bad for those who have to work with him. 

Self-authored me realizes that the world takes all types. That I don’t know what he’s working through. Maybe he has a horrid wife or home life and he comes to work and takes it out on us so he doesn’t hit his wife. Or he grew up with an abusive father and this is the only way he knows. Non-self authored me just thinks he’s crazy.