| April 17, 2003 - Newspapers at the Bumbling Bureaucracy |
| Dear Friends, it's time for another BUMBLING BUREAUCRACY (BB) story! You'll remember when I first wrote about the BB that I said there was a woman named Mrs. Tomias who was in charge of the Office Concerning All Things Written. Well, I can't base the following story solely on my own experience, but have to rely somewhat on hearsay. Well, one day a decree went out that people were not to leave the building during their breaks, except for the lunch one. Before I continue you need to know that there was a small shopping mall right behind the building where you could buy Hallmark cards, books, sandwiches, etc. We were all mystified as to what might have caused this decree, but no one seemed to know. I at last found someone who told me that he had heard from a friend who had heard from a friend of a friend, etc.....you get the picture. Now, mind you, this is hearsay, but what I understand happened was this: Mrs. Tomias was walking down the hall and saw someone eating an ice cream cone in the hallway. When she asked where he had got it, he said "from the mall". Within a few days a memo went around saying that people weren't to leave the building during their breaks. Had Mrs. Tomias got upset that he hadn't offered her a lick? Was she afraid he would drop it on the floor and cause someone to fall? Or was she afraid people would believe that the employees were always out shopping rather than doing their jobs? Who knows? And who really cares at this point what she thought? I certainly never did! The other arcane rule was one that was enforced only in my division when I first started at the BB. Employees were not allowed to read the newspaper during their lunch breaks if they were eating at their desks. They could, however, read newspapers in the cafeteria. No one at all could tell me how that rule originated, but someone said he thought that it was an effort of the Division Director to do one better over someone else. The theory is that someone in upper management makes a rule such as "People should not be sleeping at their desks." His or her lackey then says, "We need to be stricter. Not only should people not be sleeping at their desks, but they should only have work-related materials in the vicinity of their desks." Then his or her subordinate works it over some more and it keeps getting passed down to the point that the rule is "People should not walk down the hallways during working hours." Here is how it was applied to JOHNNYLEEN. When I first started, I worked ten hours a week because I was a full-time graduate student. I would show up and wait for a word processor to become available. Once one wasn't available so I was reading the school newspaper. The Division Director came by and asked, "What are you reading?" And I answered, "The Second Big Name University Newspaper." And he said, "Not on my watch you don't." So I went to my boss (also lowly contractor scum) and she said that from now on I should call to make certain a word processor was available. So that was what I did from then on. However, one time I came in only to find that they needed the machine for something else, but that it would be available in an hour. So I just sat while they paid me. I could have been studying or anything. Now what kind of impression do you think that made just to have me sit there? So my boss somehow procured permission for me to bring my books in from then on and if they needed to bump me off the machine, I could study at the desk furthest away from the office door. See, at a BB appearances are everything. No real work ever need get accomplished as long as everyone gives the appearance of working. When deadlines are missed, you just hire more people and throw more money at the job until some poor slob actually breaks down and does it! Next entry Previous entry Go to diary entries Go back home |