Blog Week 68: Tying loose ends.
Sunday 11 March 23.08
Its March and I spent this beautiful afternoon walking on the beach in Zeeland with my guy. A world away from work. I should tie up some recent office loose ends. I'll start tomorrow.
Monday 12 March 23.39
Last week Laurel & Hardy arrived Tuesday midday and left on Thursday afternoon. When he is here he is nearly always "unavailable". The top layer of problems growing in his in-box remains untouched. One day that pile is going to turn into a volcano. (I better talk about something else as my deepening frustration with him will bore you.)
So loose end number 1. I mentioned an impending fight (in fact a rematch) between a couple of lawyers, Tweedledum and Tweedledee. We were licking our lips, salivating at the prospect of fur flying around the office. Unfortunately everything passed off peacefully in the end - mildly disappointing really. Just like my office life: what is expected to happen doesn't and the unexpected then happens.
Wednesday 14 March 23.41
Loose end number 2. I also refered recently to a fight between Shakespeare and a female associate. The argument arose suddenly and in a public place. As the volume rose, most nearby eyes pretended everything was business as usual (for fear of somehow being sucked in). And after all who wants to look like a gawper? But as the noise increasingly reverberated all the ears in close proximity zoomed in. After all something interesting was disrupting the office routine. Everyone wanted to know which tectonic plates might be moving and how significant it was on that department's Richter scale.
The argument itself was unremarkable. Which in a sense is actually remarkable because it has become quite common, since the merger, for these work-related arguments to erupt out of no where.
At certain levels there are too many lawyers and not enough work. So who is allocated to do what and who does the allocating? Does any lawyer like doing the type of work they did years before? It is partly an issue of self-respect. But also an issue of who is your boss. For give in once too often and you find yourself slipping down an invisible greasy pole with others racing to the top.
I wonder if one partner in particular relishes the gladitorial fight for a particular team role. These arguments are unseemly and usually go on behind closed-doors. But dignity goes out the window as "survival of the fittest" comes through the door.
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