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November 06, 2005
Brain Suckage
WS and I had a discussion on stupidity the other day. I had said something really stupid, realized it right as WS started making fun of me, and told him that I lost my brains before I left work.
He, being ever gracious, said, "I understand, I was stupid at work all day today too. Must be something in the air.
To which I replied, "No, you don't understand, They suck my brains out at work everyday and leave me none to come home with. They do this by coming to me with the most inane questions or stuff that isn't in my area - and expect an answer beside 'I don't know but So-and-So does.'"
"For example, this morning my boss started out the day by asking me where the extra caps for the cleanroom were kept. Now, how in the hell am I supposed to know? I don't go in the cleanroom that often, so it's not really something I worry about. So, I had to go ask someone where they were at, get the box, then inform the appropriate person that I had taken the last box from stock - all because my boss thought the Documentation person was the person to ask such a question, not the Cleanroom Superviser."
Then, wouldn't you know it, the next day I read on Buffy's blog about her angst at not being able to remember great ideas or wordings that she has thought of when she sits down to the computer. It just seemed so right to reiterate my assertion that
They suck my brains out at work!
Posted by Bogie on November 6, 2005 at 04:33 PM in Life in General | Permalink
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Tracked on Nov 12, 2005 11:39:50 PM
Comments
I don't get that kind of thing at work, Bogie, but I DO get it at home. My entire life has been dedicated to finding things my mother has misplaced. Lately, after half a century of this, I've taken to waiting just a few minutes before rushing to assist her, and it's amazing! She FINDS THINGS! I'm the person who is expected to find anything which might have passed through the portals of this house. The other three inhabitants STILL don't know where everything in the kitchen goes, and they use that as a cop out to avoid having to unload the dishwasher!
I guess you touched a nerve here. No brains....all sucked out. (sigh)
Posted by: buffy at Nov 7, 2005 2:54:25 PM
I gave up letting them suck mine out at work. I just put on my hearing protector muffs and pretend I don't hear them any more.
Oh!! And stupid, startled, confused looks work really well. Just practice the look of the RCA dog staring at the Victrola Speaker and you got it. *Eyes wide, head cocked to one side...and let your tounge loll out of the side of your mouth and you're done.*
Posted by: Wichi Dude at Nov 7, 2005 6:57:17 PM
Wham! I got that one right in the schnozzola! Bogie made me realize that, at work, I was the suck-er. Without other people to keep track of where things were, I was helpless. I subscribed to the 3rd degree theory: Starting with any person within the company, I could find the thing or piece of knowledge desired within a relay of no more than 2 additional people. That way I didn't have to keep track of everything or know everything--and it got things done!
On the other hand, as with Buffy, I am the suck-ee, at home. It is my tasking to know where all that enters our portals reside.
I have achieved enlightenment. I am in nervana. (Or not!)
Posted by: Cop Car at Nov 7, 2005 11:39:25 PM
Mrs Smith taught me that the number of the object must agree with the number of the subject. Unfortunately, I don't always observe such niceties. Sorry for the assault on the English language, to Bogie and her readers.
Posted by: Cop Car at Nov 7, 2005 11:41:58 PM
WD - I think my boss would catch on rather quickly if I put in ear plugs (what, the sound of my keyboard is too loud?), but I do like the idea about looking like the RCA dog.
Buffy - I too try to let people find things for themselves. Unfortunately, everyplace I've worked at, I've gotten a reputation for knowing stuff or knowing who to go to, so they come and ask before they search. I guess I'll have to remember at my next job to pull and RCA Dog the first time anyone asks my something outside my purview, then I should be all set.
Cop Car - I'll cut you some slack, You worked for large companies, where you couldn't possibly know who was the appropriate person to go to all the time. In a small company, it's pretty apparent (except for those that are intentionally blind).
Posted by: bogie at Nov 8, 2005 4:07:29 AM
Funny, Bogie--in reading your reply to Buffy, it made me realize that the reason I had to go to so many other people was that others came to me, first. People expected me, too, to know "everything" and "everybody" and, in keeping with my 3rd degree theory, I usually could steer others to a person who was (at least) closer to being the correct person. Thanks for making me feel a bit better. (Did I look worried??? Nah--it isn't going to happen. *grinning*)
My motto was that I didn't need to know everything because there were so many other good people to whom one could go. It really put a dent in my system when so many of the "old heads" upon whom I relied took the "early out" offer that the company made 18 months before I decided to retire. Their absence undoubtedly played into my decision to retire, myself. (By-the-by: I get to see some of the "old heads" at lunch, today. I missed our Structural Integrity retiree luncheon in September, due to working with the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief; but, I told my bosses at the Red Cross that I would not be in, today!) What may not be apparent from my wording is that I was one of the "old heads", myself!
Posted by: Cop Car at Nov 8, 2005 7:54:35 AM
Oh yeah! By the end of the day, I usually wail that my brains are "fried". Amounts to the same, I think. I think the cells are still there but after a 7 hours with at-risk teenagers (and an at-risk staff), I can barely put two words together than make sense. It's no wonder my own teens run circles around me by dinner time.
And, thank you for the welcome. I feel like I've just be adopted into a wonderful family!
Posted by: Frankie at Nov 15, 2005 1:57:25 PM
Whoa, if anything can fry one's brains, it sounds like your job could!
Posted by: bogie at Nov 16, 2005 3:56:35 AM
