Office politics

I hate office politics. It really pisses me off.

Many of you may know that I am training for the Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer in September. For those of you that do not, it is a 30 mile walk that takes place over 2 days; 20 miles the first day and 10 the second. I have to train for it because any other time of the year I am extremely lazy and would rather lay on the couch watching reality TV.

Anyhoo...

I have a walking partner and during the day we head out for a three mile trek. We leave the office at 10 a.m. because

1. it isn't as hot at that time of day
2. the traffic isn't as bad
3. there aren't as many folks in the showers when we get back

SO -- yesterday, my walking buddy and I do our thang and then return. I run into my boss as she is leaving for her run. (She runs with another group of folks) She tells us that we cannot eat at the round table in our area -- that we must eat at our desks today. (we have a small table set up in our area that we use for lunch on some days) She says, "I'll explain it all when I get back." And rolls her eyes.

So what happend?

Her boss saw me and my walking buddy leave for our walk at 10 a.m. He comes over to her desk and asks why we are out doing our walk so early in the morning. She explains that we take our lunch at that time to walk and gives him the reasons listed above. He tells her "it doesn't look good. That isn't a lunch time... lunch starts at 11. They shouldn't be away from their desks at peak business time. AND I hope they aren't taking extra time to eat when they return. They MUST eat at their desks on days that they work out."

She said she just looked at him with her mouth open.

Ummm... hello? I'm 40 years old! I come into this office at 6:30 each morning and stay until 4 p.m. (which, btw, when she told him my arrival time he said "well, I hope you aren't letting her go home at 3:30! We don't DO that!" She said, "No, she stays until 4 so you actually get an extra 30 minutes out of her!" -- and she thought to herself "asshole") There is NO policy stating when we can and cannot take our lunches... as long as we take an hour each day.

Most days I sit at my desk and work through lunch. How is it hurting him -- or my job -- to take an hour or two a week to go on a walk at 10 in the morning?!! It doesn't. He just wants to be a pain in the ass.

This is the kind of stuff that just pisses me off. I'm not a slacker. I do a damn good job. I have never missed a deadline. I get things done ahead of time. Leave me alone and let me do my job.

Growl...

Oh, yeah... I'm sooooo close to reaching my goal for the walk. I have a little over $300 left to raise. If you would like to donate, email me (the link is in my profile) and I'll send you the details. I would REALLY appreciate it!