BerthaBlog – Page 20 – Not like other chicks.

More Work Craziness

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Sep 082014

A couple of weeks ago, the last of our original payroll staff put in her two weeks’ notice.

This particular payroll girl is the one that did over 50% of the payroll work. The boss hired one new person to replace her, then finally realized that one person wasn’t enough and has now rearranged the staff. Sparky, who used to be our receptionist/office administrator, is now doing payroll. The new girl that I was training has taken over Sparky’s old job. (But I still have to train her so she can help out when things get busy.)

Sparky and the payroll girl who is leaving do not get along. The payroll girl has told our boss that she will not be training Sparky, or have anything to do with preparing her for her new role. So Sparky is left to swim on her own with a very basic knowledge of payroll, and zero knowledge of the various specific tweaks that each individual client wants.

Long story short, now I’m training Sparky, too. Someone get me the hell out of here.

Okay, You’re Right Guys

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Aug 252014

A couple of friends have pointed out that if we were all at a potluck, they would make an effort to bring things to accommodate my allergies. And you’re right, that would be thoughtful and considerate. I admit I’m using a broad brush in my ranting, and you guys are good people and shouldn’t let my little tantrum change anything you do.

Maybe some detail will help. Our “parties” aren’t any kind of potluck, it’s just someone’s birthday and we get a cake and take ten or fifteen minutes in the break area to celebrate. And usually the same person goes for the cake, and always makes a big fuss about trying to find something without wheat in it, even though I’ve told her I’d rather she just get whatever the birthday girl likes, and that I’m not eating sweets anyway (another bit of dietary info I plan to keep to myself in future). Or she’ll get a regular cake and also some random thing like flan or a little single-serve ice cream.

And that probably wouldn’t bother me nearly as much if she would quit trying to get me to eat the stuff even on non-birthday occasions. Every now and then she’ll go to McDonald’s and get sundaes for everyone, and every time I tell her I don’t want one, and every time she brings me one anyway. The first time I ate it to be polite, but after that I just gave them to a co-worker. Or she’ll offer me chocolate, or some other candy that doesn’t have wheat and therefore “you can eat this, right?” Dude, I CAN eat wheat if I choose to, it just makes me sick afterward so I choose not to. I also choose to limit my sugar intake, because I don’t want to be diabetic in my fifties.

So I’m at the point now where my back is up a bit about the whole thing. I figure at the new place I’ll avoid all that by just sticking to the “no, thanks” and not giving anyone that opening to proffer me food I don’t want because it’s technically “allowed” by my allergy.

And another factor is that I’ve been training the new person at work, and more or less managing her, and I hate it. So I’m bitchy and petulant on my blog, because I can’t be bitchy and petulant at work. When I’m enjoying what I do the little annoyances are much easier to ignore.

Another Reason I Want A New Job

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Aug 242014

When I first started this job, I had only recently figured out that I am gluten intolerant. So I didn’t know any better. Whenever there would be an office party with cake or other floury treat, I would decline and say “No thanks, I’m allergic to wheat.” I felt a brief explanation was a way to be polite, so they wouldn’t feel I was being standoffish.

As it turns out, when you say “I’m allergic to X,” what some people hear is “I feel left out because you’re all eating X and I can’t.” And those people then make it their personal mission to find food that doesn’t contain X, or a restaurant with X-free food, or otherwise bend over backwards to accommodate your allergy.

And I really hate that. I’m a damn grownup, if I feel left out because I can’t eat the food, I’m perfectly capable of getting some food I can eat. If everyone else has a favorite restaurant they like for lunch, I’d prefer they just trust that I will say something if I really have a problem with that place. I don’t want people making a big fuss over where we can go, or trying to find some special kind of treat for the office party that I can eat. I appreciate that they’re trying to be considerate, but after the first few times I tell them it’s not necessary it’s no longer considerate. I want them to go on as normal and leave my dietary considerations to me.

So when I finally do get a new job, I’m not going to mention my stupid food allergies. If I’m offered food with wheat, I’ll decline politely with nothing more than “No, thank you,” because I’ve finally come to realize that an explanation is not required for good manners.

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