The Dependables
After several posts filled with negativity regarding my workplace I suppose I should balance the record. Monkey Tech has it's issues but it's no dungeon. We're small, only 15 people, and we do some high quality precision work. Unfortunately being small means we work in close quarters. We're divided into camps. The most obvious division is between the reliable workers and the deadbeats. When you spend 50+ hours per week with a small group of people there's bound to be friction and heads butting. Because we have demanding jobs that can be stressful we may have more than our share. If one third of your workforce falls in the deadbeat camp problems are unavoidable.
You've heard about most of the deadbeats, Captain Sod, The Genus, Special Ed and The Princess. There is fifth but I wouldn't know where to start with his bizarre story. You've also heard about the bossman and Number 2. The good guys are much nicer to talk about and I suspect my praise will not make for interesting reading. For some reason writing cynical and sarcastic jokes is more interesting and comes easier to me. I have wondered what that reveals about me.
We have a core group of people who come to work every day, on time and do their best to produce quality work and services. They generally have good attitudes and get along very well. There are rarely personal problems amongst 'The Dependables'. We make the best of a difficult work environment and sometimes socialize after hours. I have a good deal of respect for the people in this group. We are the monkeys of Monkey Tech. We make our day more bearable by tormenting one another with jokes and light pranks. This mischief along with the drama between the deadbeats and dependables sometimes makes me think we need to grow up. Maybe you can sense this in my stories.
Crazy Chris is a dependable as is Number 2 even though his chaos often irritates the other monkeys causing the offended primates to fling poo at him, figuratively of course. Dumb Brian is also a reliable guy. He's not really dumb but since we already have a Genius Brian we had to distinguish between them. When he was hired I made the quip, "The boss wanted to get 50 hours out of Brian every week so he hired another guy named Brian. Problem solved." Dumb Brian accepts his moniker without offense. He works in Chris' department with deadbeat #5.
Our most recent hire, Magoo, has the unfortunate role of being the whipping boy for Captain Sod in Q.C. Magoo is a smallish, softspoken older Mexican with about 72 children and grandchildren who wears very thick eyeglasses. That is odd for an inspector working to micro-tolerances. Captain Sod and Genus use him as the fall guy whenever something goes wrong in their department. Magoo is our spy working behind enemy lines.
The Sarge is the longest tenured employee, our office manager and part of the bossman's inner circle. She can can cut you down with her frozen, wordless stare of emotionless fury that speaks a thousand silent words of disgust or she can bitch-you-out with one poisonous sentence that will burn in your ears long after she coldly turns her back to walk away. Fortunately, I get along quite well with Sarge and consider it part of my job, my mission, to make her laugh every day because she needs it. The Princess is Sarge's nemesis.
Right Wing Nut is a conservative talk radio junkie who is convinced this country is being destroyed by liberals. He listens to Rush, Glen Beck and other right wing radio pundits daily, whipping himself into a frenzy over this country going down the tubes. Wing Nut is a good guy and one of the hardest working men I have ever know. He's a little high strung and kooky but worth putting up with. Wing Nut works with Junior a 20-year-old Blaxican (half black-half Mexican) who learns fast, works his butt off and has a bright future in this trade.......even though we're trying to convince him to "Get out. Get out NOW! Look at us June, do you really want to turn out this way?" Junya is a good kid.
Grumpy John and Hermano are the two men I work most closely with. I'm the lead person in our three man department. Our conversations, sarcasm and joking are the catalyst for my writing about our workplace, the pub and the cast of characters. Both Grumpy and Hermano are reliable hard working men. I trust them, I believe they trust me and we work well as a team. Our saying is, "I've got your back.", as we look out for each other making sure our department meets all demands. I won't pretend we don't have issues, we sometimes do but put them aside to get our jobs done.
These are the coworkers that band together, deal with the challenges of the day and put out fires........including flareups started by deadbeats not doing their jobs. I feel I can rely on any of these dependable people when I need something done. There's a level of openess and honesty within this camp that allows us to say what's needed when problems occur. Feelings might get bruised but we get over it. I work with some highly skilled, quality individuals for whom I hold a fair amount of affection.....even if we show it in the most unusual way. All day every day 'the dependables' do their jobs and poke fun at the deadbeats and the silliness around us. It keeps us mostly sane in an insane workplace.
You've heard about most of the deadbeats, Captain Sod, The Genus, Special Ed and The Princess. There is fifth but I wouldn't know where to start with his bizarre story. You've also heard about the bossman and Number 2. The good guys are much nicer to talk about and I suspect my praise will not make for interesting reading. For some reason writing cynical and sarcastic jokes is more interesting and comes easier to me. I have wondered what that reveals about me.
We have a core group of people who come to work every day, on time and do their best to produce quality work and services. They generally have good attitudes and get along very well. There are rarely personal problems amongst 'The Dependables'. We make the best of a difficult work environment and sometimes socialize after hours. I have a good deal of respect for the people in this group. We are the monkeys of Monkey Tech. We make our day more bearable by tormenting one another with jokes and light pranks. This mischief along with the drama between the deadbeats and dependables sometimes makes me think we need to grow up. Maybe you can sense this in my stories.
Crazy Chris is a dependable as is Number 2 even though his chaos often irritates the other monkeys causing the offended primates to fling poo at him, figuratively of course. Dumb Brian is also a reliable guy. He's not really dumb but since we already have a Genius Brian we had to distinguish between them. When he was hired I made the quip, "The boss wanted to get 50 hours out of Brian every week so he hired another guy named Brian. Problem solved." Dumb Brian accepts his moniker without offense. He works in Chris' department with deadbeat #5.
Our most recent hire, Magoo, has the unfortunate role of being the whipping boy for Captain Sod in Q.C. Magoo is a smallish, softspoken older Mexican with about 72 children and grandchildren who wears very thick eyeglasses. That is odd for an inspector working to micro-tolerances. Captain Sod and Genus use him as the fall guy whenever something goes wrong in their department. Magoo is our spy working behind enemy lines.
The Sarge is the longest tenured employee, our office manager and part of the bossman's inner circle. She can can cut you down with her frozen, wordless stare of emotionless fury that speaks a thousand silent words of disgust or she can bitch-you-out with one poisonous sentence that will burn in your ears long after she coldly turns her back to walk away. Fortunately, I get along quite well with Sarge and consider it part of my job, my mission, to make her laugh every day because she needs it. The Princess is Sarge's nemesis.
Right Wing Nut is a conservative talk radio junkie who is convinced this country is being destroyed by liberals. He listens to Rush, Glen Beck and other right wing radio pundits daily, whipping himself into a frenzy over this country going down the tubes. Wing Nut is a good guy and one of the hardest working men I have ever know. He's a little high strung and kooky but worth putting up with. Wing Nut works with Junior a 20-year-old Blaxican (half black-half Mexican) who learns fast, works his butt off and has a bright future in this trade.......even though we're trying to convince him to "Get out. Get out NOW! Look at us June, do you really want to turn out this way?" Junya is a good kid.
Grumpy John and Hermano are the two men I work most closely with. I'm the lead person in our three man department. Our conversations, sarcasm and joking are the catalyst for my writing about our workplace, the pub and the cast of characters. Both Grumpy and Hermano are reliable hard working men. I trust them, I believe they trust me and we work well as a team. Our saying is, "I've got your back.", as we look out for each other making sure our department meets all demands. I won't pretend we don't have issues, we sometimes do but put them aside to get our jobs done.
These are the coworkers that band together, deal with the challenges of the day and put out fires........including flareups started by deadbeats not doing their jobs. I feel I can rely on any of these dependable people when I need something done. There's a level of openess and honesty within this camp that allows us to say what's needed when problems occur. Feelings might get bruised but we get over it. I work with some highly skilled, quality individuals for whom I hold a fair amount of affection.....even if we show it in the most unusual way. All day every day 'the dependables' do their jobs and poke fun at the deadbeats and the silliness around us. It keeps us mostly sane in an insane workplace.