Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[Minmom3]

It's kind of willfull misinformation, though.  It would be easy enough for her to check with you that her info was correct, but she couldn't be bothered.  I'd be horribly irritated with that kind of behavior.

[White Dragon]

I saw a PD in waiting today.

We had to request maintenance on a piece of machinery that we rent.
Since I do most of the care and feeding of said machine, I wanted to be there to learn more about the machine.
Also, our policy is that we prefer that visitors not be unescorted.

Over the course of two days, the tech:

1) Parked in two parking spots of our front lot, driving in at an angle. There was lots of room to turn properly, and lots of spaces - he just didn't bother.

2) Came back and didn't park in a parking spot. Instead, he parked in front of the door. (We had to ask him to move his vehicle.) Again, lots of room to park, just didn't want to bother.

3) Showed up 2 1/2 hours after he said he would. Twice.

4) Came the second day in order to replace a part. Arrived without the part.

5) His small talk started with a commentary on world political events - in workplace-inappropriate language. (I bean dipped.)

6) When he *did* arrive back with the part, he said "I didn't have any in the shop, so I took this out of my personal machine. So you know that it works." Ummm. We just got a used part?

7) After my supervisor called Tech's dispatcher about his language, he didn't apologize. In fact, he continued to swear.

Left the correct screwdriver in his car (hence the swearing) and instead of getting it, used one of our kitchen knives as a screwdriver to repair the machine. I just gave him The Look and handed him the other screwdriver. I ignored his statement about how it wouldn't damage our knife.

9) In going back and forth to his car, he walked *through* the not-yet-landscaped-and-still-very-muddy area in front of the building. (Saved about 15 feet of walking!) There is mud on our stairs, the floor in front of my desk, in our carpets and all over the kitchen. He clearly used one of the chairs, because there was gobs of mud all over the lower rungs of the chair.

10) Dropped a screw down our sink, and left some random screws and washers on the counter.

Not impressed. Not impressed at all!

[ladyknight1]

It is even worse, she must know more than little old me, because she handled everything on her own in her old location. It is absolutely maddening.

[Midnight Kitty]

9) In going back and forth to his car, he walked *through* the not-yet-landscaped-and-still-very-muddy area in front of the building. (Saved about 15 feet of walking!) There is mud on our stairs, the floor in front of my desk, in our carpets and all over the kitchen. He clearly used one of the chairs, because there was gobs of mud all over the lower rungs of the chair.

Maybe I'm just lucky that almost every place I ever worked had a "dragon" in the front office.  She usually has a title like "office manager" or "big boss's secretary."  She may not be able to actually breathe fire, but her stern looks can freeze miscreants in their tracks.

One engineering office also had surveyors.  Surveyors are famous (infamous?) for getting muddy in the field and tracking it through the office.  I saw the Office Dragon overseeing a couple young surveyors on their hands and knees cleaning up every bit of the mud they tracked through the office.

In another office, a different Office Dragon found the guilty party by following the muddy footprints.  Not even freshly graduated engineers, who think they know everything, dare defy the Office Dragon.

[BeautifulDisaster]

9) In going back and forth to his car, he walked *through* the not-yet-landscaped-and-still-very-muddy area in front of the building. (Saved about 15 feet of walking!) There is mud on our stairs, the floor in front of my desk, in our carpets and all over the kitchen. He clearly used one of the chairs, because there was gobs of mud all over the lower rungs of the chair.

Maybe I'm just lucky that almost every place I ever worked had a "dragon" in the front office.  She usually has a title like "office manager" or "big boss's secretary."  She may not be able to actually breathe fire, but her stern looks can freeze miscreants in their tracks.

One engineering office also had surveyors.  Surveyors are famous (infamous?) for getting muddy in the field and tracking it through the office.  I saw the Office Dragon overseeing a couple young surveyors on their hands and knees cleaning up every bit of the mud they tracked through the office.

In another office, a different Office Dragon found the guilty party by following the muddy footprints.  Not even freshly graduated engineers, who think they know everything, dare defy the Office Dragon.

And this is why my DH, who is a surveyor, always always always has an extra pair of shoes in the truck that are NOT to be worn in the field. You do not mess with the office ladies. Ever. 

[White Dragon]

Heh. I may know more than a few young Engineers and not one of them would dare track mud into the office.
Not only do we have our own Dragon, we have big boss, who let it  be known that mops/vacuums would be in the future of anyone tracking in mud.

Unfortunately for us, the tech did not have to go past the front desk to get up to my area. I saw him go by my desk, but I didn't see his feet. 

[ladyknight1]

This is why DH, a locksmith, keeps a full change of clothing, broom, dustpan, and a vacuum in his truck!

[andi]

That reminds me of the furniture guys who delivered to us - they had the cutest blue booties put over their shoes

[Lauds]

It's kind of willfull misinformation, though.  It would be easy enough for her to check with you that her info was correct, but she couldn't be bothered.  I'd be horribly irritated with that kind of behavior.

She also must have had some idea that the information she gave might be wrong, otherwise she wouldn't have checked she was right.

[ladyknight1]

Probably right, my boss and her boss get back tomorrow and I will be discussing this with my boss and letting it go. We have had major issues since she started working for us with this one up kind of behavior.

[jedikaiti]

You bring the updates, I'll bring the popcorn.

[Minmom3]

I'll bake brownies...

[ladyknight1]

Until something drastic occurs, such as misinformation leading to a student complaint, nothing will be done. The current administration just adore S, and don't want to upset the current working pattern.

We have just hired a new uber boss, so things may change after he starts.

[Piratelvr1121]

9) In going back and forth to his car, he walked *through* the not-yet-landscaped-and-still-very-muddy area in front of the building. (Saved about 15 feet of walking!) There is mud on our stairs, the floor in front of my desk, in our carpets and all over the kitchen. He clearly used one of the chairs, because there was gobs of mud all over the lower rungs of the chair.

Maybe I'm just lucky that almost every place I ever worked had a "dragon" in the front office.  She usually has a title like "office manager" or "big boss's secretary."  She may not be able to actually breathe fire, but her stern looks can freeze miscreants in their tracks.

One engineering office also had surveyors.  Surveyors are famous (infamous?) for getting muddy in the field and tracking it through the office.  I saw the Office Dragon overseeing a couple young surveyors on their hands and knees cleaning up every bit of the mud they tracked through the office.

In another office, a different Office Dragon found the guilty party by following the muddy footprints.  Not even freshly graduated engineers, who think they know everything, dare defy the Office Dragon.

And this is why my DH, who is a surveyor, always always always has an extra pair of shoes in the truck that are NOT to be worn in the field. You do not mess with the office ladies. Ever. 

My DH, who does appliance repair, has boot covers so that he won't track mud into people's homes when he comes to service their washer/dryer/fridge, what have you. 

[Cami]

My office is a very small part of a large university. We have satellite campuses around our area, and some of the offices at those campuses are very small, with only one or two full time staff.

One of the employees at my office (S) used to work at one of those small offices. As S says herself, it was a one woman show. She did everything, even things that are beyond the scope of her position. S has demonstrated that she still wants to do many things, such as answering questions, even when she: a, does not have access to the information required; and b, does not have the answers the student is seeking. I was in my office all day yesterday, except for one hour for lunch. S came and asked me to verify that she gave the correct information to the student that called about something that I or my boss would usually handle. Turns out that S gave the entirely wrong answer, and has been wrong about that very important piece of information since she began working at the university. When I gently corrected her about VIP information, she didn't believe me. Turns out that I was here during that conversation, but S was bored and wanted to talk to the student. 

While it is not intentional misinformation, I believe that S committed PD in not checking her facts, taking a message or transferring the call to the pertinent staff member, me.

Gee, almost wonder if S works at a university to which my daughter has been admitted but has been given misinformation that is affecting her ability to decide whether the university is a good fit for her.  She's gotten so discouraged by how hard it has been to get accurate information that she's now doubting whether this university is worth the extra expense.