I saw some poll results on the news the other day about stress in the workplace. 35% of those surveyed cited a coworker as their main reason, the highest percentage of everything named. I can relate. I have Mister Congeniality, the loudest, most obnoxious person I’ve had to deal with in years. The thing that makes him really unbearable, besides his noise, is that he has no concept of himself. He honestly believes he’s considerate and selfless–exactly the opposite of what he is. You can’t joke with him or point out something he’s done wrong because then he gets all pissy. He is 90% of the reason that I don’t like going into work.
He was in a meeting last week where he was asked if we could provide a report. So he asked me if I could do it. I couldn’t. It’s fine till this point, but then he decided that I would spearhead finding out how we could get these reports. Gee, I wasn’t at the meeting, I can’t answer any questions anyone would have, but he’s decided it’s My Job and he’ll be damned if he’ll do it even though he was the one at the meeting and he is the one that can answer the questions.
I’ve tried not to complain about him on the blog because no one wants to hear about it, but I need advice. How do you deal with an obnoxious coworker who won’t allow you to just ignore him? I seriously need some coping strategies because he makes work nearly unbearable.
In a complete change of subject, I have the rest of my revisions for Midnight Hour and it should only take a couple of days to do them. The most time consuming part is finding the right places to slide in a sentence or two. Sometimes the choice isn’t obvious and it takes some reading and considering. Then once I choose, I have to smooth out the insertion so it reads seamlessly. I have one addition that’s going to take reading through a lot of the book to find the perfect spot. Not all bad since I really need to make notes to help keep things straight for the next book.
I mentioned I was going to trade cars with my parents yesterday since mine was making noise, but I ran short on time so I drove mine and it ran normal. It was normal this morning too. Makes me wonder what it was that I heard on Monday. Anyway, I’m due for an oil change so I’ll bring it in on Saturday and mention the noise. I’m sure, hundreds of dollars later, they’ll tell me they couldn’t find anything wrong. :-/
I keep meaning to mention this really cool commercial I’ve seen a few times. It’s for Liberty Mutual and it shows these people doing a nice thing for someone else, and a third person seeing it and then doing something nice for someone else in this chain that circles around to the guy who starts it. I love this ad, but I don’t know how effective it is since I have no idea what Liberty Mutual is trying to pitch. TBH, the only reason I even remember the company’s name is because I saw it last night and made it a point to memorize it. I love good advertising, though.
Have y’all seen the latest Levi’s ad? This guys steals a pair of jeans off a balcony and then his body keeps moving like the guy whose jeans he took. Like when his girlfriend pushes him out of the way of the TV, the thief moves as if he’s been pushed too. Finally, tired of all this stuff, he returns the jeans just in time for the owner to go out, grab them and put them on. I’m really impressed with this series of ads. I should try to find out who the agency is that created them. (It’s that ad major background rearing its head! I like to see who’s doing work I think is good and I’m not sure why since I have no plans of putting together a portfolio and applying at any of these places–no matter what I threaten after hearing bad radio ads. 
Tags: Misc
I think Liberty Mutual is trying to do the same thing as all the other insurance companies lately. Try to get people to think they’re the good guys as I think they went down in the public’s favor after things like Katrina. So it seems after that that they’ve been making commercials that try to show how much they do for communities. At least that’s my take on it.
Patti, I’ll tell Lynne to drop by. She’s had some serious experience with A-holes in the workplace. Just the kinda gal you need to chat with.
And I love that ad too! Pretty cool!
Wow, Patti. Sorry to hear you’re having so much trouble. If this guy is your boss, I’d find a way to get transferred to another department. I’ve definitely been there.
If he’s a coworker, you may have to get the boss involved. Of course, that may have zero effect or could make things worse. It all depends on how effective a boss you have AND just how nuts your coworker is. I’ve worked with some people who would completely lose it at the slightest hint of criticism. There’s not much you can do except work around them and hope that either you or they find another job.
I don’t know all the details of your situation, so I’m not sure how much help I can be, but one thing I do know is that DOCUMENTING everything is very, very important. You should definitely be keeping a paper trail of all your conversations and commitments. Even if you just send an email to yourself, detailing what took place, that’ll help.
If it’s truly impossible for you to provide the reports, you could always email him, documenting in full why you cannot do them. If that doesn’t get the results you want, you could always end up forwarding the message to the boss and/or the people to whom this guy promised the reports, but I’d give him a chance to respond first. I always like to give a person every opportunity to do the right thing before I start escalating.
Good luck!
Nicole,
So the commercial is just a feel good spot and has nothing to do with a product. That means I didn’t miss as much as I thought I did. Image campaigns don’t really have a message.
Patti
Thanks, LaDonna!
Patti
Hi Lynne,
Thanks for coming over!
He’s not exactly my boss. He’s the lead, though, which makes it tough. I have been looking at other jobs within the company, unfortunately, I’m at a high enough level that it’s tough to find an equivalent paying job and the other issue is that I have a book due in January and I don’t have enough mental energy to learn a new job and write the story. Still, this psychic vampire I work with is draining me too–emotionally.
This guy is very rigid, very, very afraid of change, and totally self-deluded. He’s honestly talked to me about how considerate he is. He can’t take any kind of criticism and I know he’d make my life even more miserable if I went to the boss. I can’t even point out something minor that he did wrong without listening to a bunch of defensive crap. I’ve been asking spirit every single day that he find a new job, but unfortunately, that fear he has of any kind of change is there.
I kept every email in this report thing, but I’ll start documenting more carefully. Maybe I should start with how much time he spends not working. :-/
Thanks very much for the advice. I appreciate it!
Patti
Hmmm, an annoying co-worker?
Put Visine in his coffee. It will give him the runs and he’ll spend all day in the restroom, so he can’t bug you.
Seriously, good luck, it’s stressful when you have to deal with work problems like that. Co-workers like that drain your much-needed energy. Why not try reverse psychology? He seems insecure, so agree with him and flatter him. Pump up his ego. Yes, you ARE considerate, yada, yada. Then gradually you talk HIM into getting the reports he needs.
Good luck!
Bonnie,
I’d choke if I had to pump up his ego. I think he’s very arrogant, so sure he’s always right and always perfect.
The report guru sent me a rough version, I forwarded it to the guy who wanted it (and CC’d Mr. Congeniality in) and then the guy called the guru directly, so hopefully, this means I’m out of the loop now. He can tell her exactly what he wants without going through a middleman.
I think Mr. Congeniality will be making an appearance in the book I have due in January. I think the villain is going to kill him very slowly and very painfully.
Never, ever piss off a writer. 
Patti