I don't often get grumpy with my BB (big boss). He's demanding and sometimes short, but it's usually well compensated with his being reasonable and fair. This morning I thought for sure he was trying to provoke a fight or at least a few well placed snide remarks.
He asked me to find a report for him from the department library. He couldn't remember the name of it, but he described a report about (thumb and finger 2" apart) this wide, with a blue cover and the word s----- (not the word you're thinking) on it. Huh? Well, okay, I'll go look. So I go into the library and start looking for the thing. I find nothing that really fits this vague description but there are a couple that start to approach a resemblance.
I take them back to him and he tells me that's not it. We play 20 questions and I get that it's in a section that of the library that's much smaller than the whole thing. Still no definative title, but a better description of it. I go back and find something that might be what he's looking for. At this point I am thinking he really has no idea what the title is. I've gone through the entire library, touched everything resembling a report and KNOW what's there.
Not it. But he does concede that it's close. In fact, he recalls, one of our former collegues put the report together so perhaps it's in another coworker's office. (and he didn't tell me this before why?!) He tells me to go back to the library again and look for it. At this point my blood pressure is off the scale. I do better work than that for him to presume I haven't really worked at it. I tell him I've touched every report in the library, but would be happy to ask the coworkers if they have such a report.
I find the report in another coworkers office. It very vaguely resembles the report he's looking for. (not the right size, doesn't have the s---- word on it and definately not in the library) It turns out that it really doesn't have the data he needed, but why should that bother me that 30 minutes of my time was wasted?! ARggghh! That's it! No more candy dish at my desk until he recognizes that he was a pain in the ass.
Maybe a cup of tea would help.
