People in Control

Why is it when you give a person the smallest inkling of control they think they can rule the world and the way you live in it. For example an employee realizes that their boss is useless and really does nothing all day long and they make a casual comment to another coworker about their observation. One would think that the coworker (in this instance we'll call her Mary) would acknowledge the comment and know that her coworker is just blowing off steam. But what if Mary is an ass kissing brown noser who instead runs straight to the boss? Now we have a problem. Mary has gone to the boss and taken ammunition straight from your mouth with her. (the only thing that could make this moment worse is a tape recorder in Mary's pocket when you were talking) So if you were the boss what would you do? Well since you have that little bit of control, you obviously call in the employee and confront him/her not knowing the circumstances of the said conversation between him/her and Mary.

So that takes us back to the power and control problem. Now the boss has the control and power and you the employee who was venting off some steam and relieving a little stress are at their mercy. What now? Do you kiss your bosses ass and beg for mercy?

• HELL NO!


• You deny EVERYTHING!


• And I do mean EVERYTHING!


• You have no clue what crazy Mary is talking about (she's been going through a hard time and is probably drinking again)

Ok, so we think the problem is solved right. You've denied everything until you are blue in the face and maybe your boss believes you. There's still a few problems.

1. Your boss still has the control and power. You now have a target on your back and are being watched like never before.


2. Your boss still has the control and power, and s/he is still useless


3. You can't trust Mary any longer

Well, short of putting liquor bottles in your bosses desk and a dead body under their car in the parking lot there really isn't much we can do about numbers 1 and 2. Ah, but number 3 will be fun!

How do we deal with Mary? At this point she probably doesn't know that the boss had a stern conversation with you and you were written up, and if she suspects she can't confirm (unless she was standing outside the door with a cup against it) We all remember that old adage "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" lets roll with that.

Lets make nice with Mary, after all, the nicer you are to her the more she lets her guard down. Who knows maybe one day she'll have a bad day and need to vent. Luckily for you, you just purchased a new pen size tape recorder. She'll never know what hit her.