Ye Olde Image
I had the displeasure recently of working onsite for a client. The client wasn’t the problem – the caliber of the other hired help was. See, they were talented people, and they were contractors there for those talents, but oh my word, their actions! I was unfortunate enough to share space with these people – two of them, both male, both hyperactive. The first one I’ll call Baby Einstein. He was younger than I was, but he acted like he’d been in the business for decades. He knew it all. Everything. Right down to why women shouldn’t wear lipstick. For every word I spoke or every breath I sneaked, he had wisdom to impart. Can someone talk about themselves for eight solid hours? Apparently, sadly, yes. I did my best to ignore, but when he mentioned my body parts, he met with my wrath. All that pent-up frustration listening to a motormouth took its toll, and I lashed into him. Because he was so sure of himself with everyone else in the office, he was soon let go.
Enter the next contractor, whom I’ll refer to as Whiney Bob. Whiney Bob had a particularly sad situation, though it was tough to tell what it was. He was clearly in a state of flux in his life – not sure what to do with himself, certain he needed to be working, worried that he’d found the end of the rainbow and his pot of gold had been stolen. I did like him and I did sympathize, but his actions led to a faster demise than Baby Einstein’s. On day one of his short tenure, Whiney Bob propped his feet up on our shared desk space and proceeded to dial away on his cell phone, wheeling and dealing and trying to find a better gig than this one, which he kept insisting was beneath him. One of the supervisors took offense to his working while not working for the company. He lasted three days. And he didn’t take the news of his not being needed further very well. He stormed into the director’s office, complaining bitterly. This for a job he didn’t like. No points made there!
Until witnessing these two contractors in action, I falsely assumed that everyone knew how to behave in an office. My bad. I cannot assume now that anyone will automatically understand proper protocol in an office setting. Some tips for you – if you’re a contractor working onsite for a client, treat that client and the client’s workspace and equipment as though you were guarding a priceless treasure. As for your actions, if you cannot do it in church, don’t do it in the office. And if they tell you they don’t need you next week or ever again, pretend you’re talking to the person who just gave you a pardon from the electric chair. Thanks and praise, not bitching and moaning.
Show up on time. Do your best work. Ask questions. Smile. And for gawd’s sake, keep your feet off the furniture.
“As for your actions, if you cannot do it in church, don’t do it in the office.”
OH MY GOSH!!!
I loved this post. I was laughing and laughing. You characterized those two characters perfectly.
Great advice.
RE: your comment on my blog. The Reverse 911 system didn’t kick in. One of the residents rang everyone’s bell when he saw the water rise, but in the time it took for me to run down three flights of stairs, it was already too late.
This sums up my tenure as a temporary contract employee for over 9 years. I have seen some really, nice talented people go because they didn’t know the rules!
I am fairly sure I have met baby einstein before (or maybe it was his brother)
This brought back fond(?) memories of the people I mentioned in my last comment to your “client emergencies” post. They really were nice guys, and talented at what they were hired for, but they made me crazy. I was the “computer-savvy” one in the office, so I always ended up dealing with our off-site tech support and troubleshooting things in the office.
I once actually had to sit them down and have a little workshop on what not to do with your work computer – including downloading streaming “adult content.” No one could figure out why we always had viruses – I quickly found out when I did a little nosing around into everyone’s browsing/downloading habits!
Glad you enjoyed, Laura. :)) I was referring to Baby Einstein’s comments about my boobs. Luckily I’m at a point in my life where his attempts to belittle just pissed me off royally. Ten years ago, I might have been uncomfortable and mousy. Now, I’m pissed and loud about it! LOL