The phone message that made my day worthwhile.

Good evening!

  Every so often that rare moment happens at work when you can sit back and say, "Oh yeah, it's so worth it working here."

It's different things for different people.  Maybe you get a raise.  Maybe that pretty girl in the next cubicle smiled at you.  Maybe your boss got transferred and your new boss is...you.  Maybe the stinky guy in the office got fired, or someone brought in brownies.  Maybe the soap in the bathrooms is the kind you like.

I had one of those moments today.  Today, when I was all alone, handling a lot of phone calls.  Today, when the blinking light on my phone alerted me to the most hilarious phone message I've ever heard.

I will try and recreate the scene for you...and the phone message. 

NBM was out of the office today.  PM was out of the office most of the day because yesterday he managed to break his nose while trying to fix something we'd installed for a customer.  Poor guy...they have to sort of reset it on Friday...that won't be fun!  Elsie was out of the office until about 3 due to a doctor's appointment, the drama of which began on Thursday when she informed NBM that she wasn't coming in until way late today because of this appointment.

See, you're supposed to fill out a form well in advance of an absence.  Not inform NBM that you're not coming in a couple days before.  Especially if you're stupid enough to tell him you booked this appointment 6 months ago.  Oh, and you have every Friday of your life off...you know, so you can have doctor's appointments.

So the battle about this appointment and when/if Elsie was coming in today at all started on Thursday.  The phone message this morning may have been the Fort Sumter of volleys in the next phase of the Elsie/NBM ongoing hostilities.

Here's the message, as best as I can remember it:

"This message is for NBM.  This is Elsie.  Going back to our conversation this morning, no, I'm not coming in at 11.  My appointment is at 1.  By the time I get to the clinic, park the car, and walk in to the office, I need 45 minutes, which means I would only be in the office for 1 hour and 15 minutes before I had to leave."

(I know, not that funny yet.  Wait.)

"It makes no sense to me to come in for just 1 hour and 15 minutes when I have to leave again.  On top of it, I'll be fasting and I get headaches when I don't eat by a certain time in the morning and I don't want to make a mistake at work because I'm hungry or I have a headache."

(I know you're laughing now...and I have to say...if this is the case she must have been STARVING the day she took a call from a customer who cancelled their order and told her to NOT cash their check. She made the mistake of not telling anyone, thusly the order was ordered, the check was cashed, and the customer was very, very unhappy when he called today and barked at yours truly.)

(But wait, there's more.)

"So I'm not going to come in for 1 hour and 15  minutes.  I'll come in after my appointment.  If you're worried about me getting my work done today, I can come in 1 hour and 15 minutes early another day and get it done."

(We're not ever worried about you getting your work done on a daily basis.  We know it's not going to get done, no worries.)

So let's review:  in spite of the fact that the boss told her she must show up for the first hour of her day before going to this appointment, she took it upon herself to not show up.  Her excuse was that it didn't make sense to her why she should have to come in on time.  (Well, she never does anyway)  Her other excuse was that she didn't want to make any mistakes at work.

Which begs the question, "If that's her concern, why does she ever show up?"

Now here's the biggest kicker:  When she did manage to show up after her appointment  (The clinic  in question is 10 minutes from our office.)  she went straight to...the kitchen...and made lunch.  Something pungent, with lots of onions.  Then she ate it.  So, for the first half hour of her already short day, she cooked and ate a meal.

Meanwhile, I worked from 7:30 to 3:30 without a lunch, (and only one furtive, hurried trip to the ladies' because I was alone in the office and showroom) and without any help at all from 10 AM until 2:30.  Since I didn't get a lunch PM, who was I believe pretty mellow on whatever painkillers his doctor put him on for his broken nose, let me go, basically giving me a lunch hour at the end of the day.

Now, tomorrow I expect NBM to be in the office.  And I expect Elsie to be in the office.  And I expect there might just be a bit of drama...especially since SOMEONE made sure that NBM knew there was a voicemail message waiting for him.

It was like he was right there in the office!

Sometimes something fun happens that makes my job so worthwhile. Well that, and the fact that, while everyone was out...I had a little mini Rick Springfield dance party in the showroom.  Yep, I cranked up the tunes and had myself a good old time...until the phone rang and I had to come back to planet earth.