Irony

Yesterday was one of the busiest days I have experienced at work in quite a long time. Needless to say, there were some hiccups along the way. This causes my boss to go crazy, if too many people are up moving around the building at the same time she thinks there is an impending crisis. By the time I left, you would have thought the whole world was coming to an end. So this morning, as I was getting ready to come to work, I wondered what I could do differently to make her calm.

I should probably point out that the client was extremely happy and so I'm not sure why my boss was extremely unhappy. As is often the case with meetings, it's a new day, so you move on. So I was delivering something to one of the client's and walked in their room and this quote was on the wall. “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” - Bill Cosby

I think I'm going to frame it and hang it in my office since another one of my boss' complaints is that my office doesn't have enough "personal" items.

Lost Items

Have you ever spent an endless amount of time looking for something that you know is in your house but can't find?

Yesterday, I spent no less than 2 hours looking for nail clippers. I know they are in my house, but they are hiding. Most likely they are sitting there laughing at the fact that I have spent so much time looking for them. I mean, really, where could they have gone? They live in the top drawer in my bathroom. I went through the whole drawer and couldn't find them, and then I scavenged through the two lower drawers - nothing. I checked under the sink, then the basket on the counter - still no clippers. At this point I took a short break to switch laundry from the washer to the dryer. I then decided to check my bedroom - maybe they were moved to my vanity..not on the vanity, not in the vanity, not in my makeup bag. Also not on my bedside table, or it's drawers or the floor.

The worst part is, I would take a break, insanely thinking that if I left the room and came back, they would appear. I even left the house and went to the grocery store. Ironically, while I was standing in the check out line, there was a container of nail clippers, but I refused to buy them because I know that mine didn't leave the house! Sadly, I'm still walking around with 2 broken fingernails.

At this point, I have run out of options. I know for a fact that it is impossible that I left the house with them, so I am left only to believe that one of my friends who came to my house over the weekend went through the drawers in my bathroom and stole them. You know who you are - and you have been caught. Please return my nail clippers.

Common Sense

Until today I have never fully appreciated the true blessing of having common sense. I always heard that not everyone has common sense, but I thought this was a relative statement and that what they meant was that not everyone has A LOT of common sense.This morning during set up for breakfast I had a conversation that proved to me that there are actually people who don't have ANY common sense...here is how the conversation went.

me: "Are those all the pastries for this breakfast?" As I look at a small platter of danishes.

caterer: "Yes, the note says there are 40."

me: "But there are 46 people in this group. That isn't even one per person."

caterer: "Do you think there will be a problem?"

An hour later I'm pulled aside by a very nervous caterer who in a most panicked voice "people are taking two, what are you going to do?

I looked at her and calmly replied that I was not going to do anything. I had pointed out two hours ago that there was not enough food.

Chia Pet

Several weeks ago, I was having a very busy day at work and during the morning rush, I walked into the lobby to see nothing less than a catering server wearing a bright pink, obnoxious hat that could best be described as troll doll hair. After counting to ten and taking several deep breaths, I asked her to remove the hat. I was told she needed to go fix her hair. At this point, I felt certain that steam was seeping from my ears and that it was only a matter of seconds until my head would actually explode.

In my attempt to avoid confrontation, I marched into my office and started typing an email to my sales contact at the catering company...it read "Moving forward, can we ask that the servers come to work ready to work? I had one this morning that needed to do her hair and makeup before she could start setting up."

Obviously, this got a quick response...an immediate phone call to apologize and a promise to make sure it never happened again. But all I could keep repeating was "I walked into the lobby and there was a troll doll walking around." She thought this was hysterical and the next day I received a present. She told me she had looked everywhere for a troll doll but couldn't find any (probably because it's not 1987). When I opened the box, I found a miniature chia pet with a pink head.

As if all that weren't crazy enough, I have tried to start growing my pets "hair". Sadly, it seems to have a balding pattern. If you know how to help my middle aged male chia pet, please let me know!!!

Letters

I am sitting at my desk today when the mail comes around. For once, there is an envelope that is not immediately recognized as a bill or sales materials. I can't wait to open the envelope.

As I flip it over, I see the return address is from a client I had met the previous day. I have worked with the company for several meetings, but she is a new planner. As I pull the letter from the envelope, I am in shock. The letter was written on a typewriter.

Who even still owns a typewriter? I can't even think of the last time I saw one, much less used it. Yet there is something very endearing about the letter. The words are like that of many thank you letters I have received from clients, nothing unique or special, but the fact that it looks like it must be at least 20 years old makes me read it over and over. Yes, I think I will cherish this client letter more than most.