A few notes on my second job since Q-M showed up again.

There can be a culture in a legal practice of everything being of great urgency and importance. This was certainly the mind-set I was endevouring to cultivate in the firm I was working in because I felt that a high level of professionalism was owed to our clients.

Ideally, staff in a legal firm should also be well paid because they work so damn hard. But this is rarely the case for the less experienced administrative staff members like myself who literally get paid peanuts. I might have been able to abide poor pay for the sake of experience were it not for two things: firstly Quasi-Mojo pottered around all day inconsiderately eating the very peanuts I was working so hard to earn (he likes to throw them high up in the air and catch them in his mouth - but when he misses - approx 40% of the time - he leaves them scattered about the place so that he can do a protracted ant-eater impression when he has a good number), and secondly I really didn't get on with my boss.

I suppose a lot of legal people treat others in terms of maximising their own financial return from them. Their self-respect is entirely based on driving hard bargains and screwing people. Interestingly, they actually feel like it's their duty and not merely their entitlement. It's amazing to watch. I'm still incredulous.

Anyway, in the workplace it manifests in excessive demands, tantrums, and pathological buck-passing. My guy was kinda funny peculiar. He had (and you'll be forgiven for thinking this is a joke or an exaggeration) no concept of the alphabet and had chosen (yes chosen!) an albhabetic filing system. This necessitated my going into his office to pull files from his shelves any/every time he needed one. In the beginning I didn't really question this - it seemed like a plausible story - but then he started giving out because he couldn't find the files I had pulled for him and LEFT ON HIS DESK! So he suggested that I email him to tell him when the file he is looking for is on his desk. Then he just couldn't find anything - I'd hear his blissfully obnoxious voice over the telecom: "I'm missing my cheque-book/keys/brain/whatever."

When stuff went really really missing it was hilarious. I kept a meticulously ordered office and so looking for stuff was just a matter of my glancing into my office. This infuriated him and he would always insist I lok in my office when the only logical possibility would be that it was in his. Quasi-Mojo was really funny one day this was going on and he helped by doing his thinking then having-an-idea face and then investigating everyone's nosrils and ear cavities.

He was also pretty great at doing a boss impression. For some reason he associated this guy with a rhinosorous (sp?) and would roll up a piece of headed paper (as it's more expensive and the boss hated to waste it) and make it into a rhino nose. He'd scrunch up his face and shrink his neck and get all angry and charge at things. But he also did a very good boss-on-telephone impression that I found very witty - especially when he did it while squatting on the boss's head. He's such a good friend (if i can call him that). It was a shame I was so busy and had to ignore him most of the time but it's great to look back on it now and it did make my days seem a little less intense. But if i'm honest, i didn't (and still don't at times) approve of Quasi-Mojo's irreverent attitude.

When I left that job for one that paid more and didn't require me to do much work (unfortunately), the guy wouldn't give me my P45 which would usually mean that I'd have to pay emergency tax. But as it happened, I didn't have to pay that much over the odds. I knew that he was doing it out of spite and malevolence but I didn't want him to sit around and not know for sure whether or not I knew why he was refusing to issue the document. I suppose I wanted some way to allow him to reflect (on some level) on the fact that he was being a big meany and to explore his justifications by confronting the issue. Convincing him to send the damn form was not the issue as I knew he would not issue it until the Revenue Commissioners contacted him and I had already reported the matter to them. I'd like to blame the monkey but it really didn't have anything to do with him.

After a number of phonecalls to his office (he refused to speak with me each time) we had the following email exchange - read into it what you will:


Dear XXX,
As you know, I have been on to your office a number of times enquiring about my P45 and am obliged to pay emergency tax on my earnings until after I receive it.

You can appreciate that this is a great inconvenience to me and I
would ask you to attend to this matter; give me an indication as to when it will be done; or indicate why you did not want to attend to this hereto.

Yours sincerely,

With the greatest respet James, there are matters which have kept me out of the office and I must say I didn't appreciate any harrassment from yourself in relation to the matter.

I am under no obligation to explain anything to you in relation to the matter.

The matter will be attended to on my return to the office.

XXX,
Let me just say briefly that it certainly was not my intention to make you
feel harassed as a result of my contacting you but I did wish to stress the importance of the matter and am glad that you are attending to it now.

Regards,

James I'm not obliged to make an explanation to you as to why this matter
wasn't dealt with.



I could explain my perspective on the psychology of this exchange at length, but I'd rather leave it to yourself(ves). Let it be what it is - however dubious my own role may seem at first glance.

I still haven't written anything about when Q-M showed up again. Sorry I'll get round to it eventually.