“I Really Wasn’t at My Desk”
February 9th, 2009
Every so often we have these special “drills” ranging from fire to lockdown to “everybody freeze ’cause the vending machine is outta chocolate!” to whatever. Today was one of those days.
Now, you’d think that the company would have speakers throughout the buildings which would allow for announcements, etc. Nope; all that’s handled through the phones. Unfortunately, not all rooms/areas have phones, of course. That being said, I wasn’t at my desk nor near a phone when the drill went info effect. The cool thing is I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about it. I was wrong.
Another-one-of-my-bosses (or AOMB): “Ummm, where were you?? You were supposed to let all the employees on your floor know that we’re having a drill!”
Me: “Well, I wasn’t actually at my desk. I was in another building when the drill commenced.”
AOMB: “I don’t care!!! You’re supposed to let the other employees know something’s going on, even when you’re not here!!”
Me: :::suffering a double-blink moment::: “Umm, excuse me? You want me to wait at my desk when we have a drill so I’ll be able to tell my coworkers who should also know about the drill anyway that we’re having a drill?”
AOMB: :::slowly pondering::: “Yes, that’s exactly what I need you to do.”
Me: “Wow. Woooooow,” I thought.
(Now, the thing to remember, dear readers, is that this particular individual is perhaps just a little bit senile which often crosses many a coworker’s mind. It just happened to be my turn this time.)
Me: “Okay, I’ll make sure I’m here all the time then.”
AOMB: :::smiling from “winning” that one::: “Thank you.”
Here’s the kicker. If I’m to ensure all my coworkers are notified of a drill that they should already know about anyway, shouldn’t someone have initially assigned that responsibility to me instead of assuming it’s embedded into my DNA?
Needless to say, I made sure that all the phone speakers on my floor were set to full volume before I headed home that day. I remembered to bring cotton balls the next day too.
