It's Hilly in the Peak District... and other insights
By pumpkinjam
@pumpkinjam (8876)
United Kingdom
August 5, 2021 11:41pm CST
Hello. As I write this, it's some silly time in the morning. For some reason, I woke up 4 hours before I needed to and I can't get back to sleep. I have, therefore, chosen to spend this time waffling on here
Last weekend, a colleague of mine went to an event. I asked him how it was and where it was (as he couldn't remember before he went). He said it was in Derby - which is a town in the English county of Derbyshire in the East Midlands. My colleague said he had a good time but it was cold and hilly. Being cold enough for big coats and blankets in summer, I can understand him mentioning this. As for being hilly, Derby is in an area known as the Peak District. I'm not sure my colleague knew that! I was a little cheeky with him about that with a comment along the line of 'who would have thought the Peak District would be hilly?!' My colleague and I are friends with a similar sense of humour, so he didn't mind me teasing.
That one was a silly thing, my colleague possibly genuinely not thinking about what he'd said. A possible honest thing that he might not have even realised the area he was in (he said his friend drives while he pays no attention to where they are or where they're going
)
I have another colleague (in a different department, whom I have not met in real life). From my encounters with her, I have concluded that she's an idiot. Instead of spending 5 minutes doing her job, she seems to prefer spending hours emailing my team, seemingly looking for a way of her reducing her workload without a thought that it's increasing ours. Her team (she's the supposed manager) gets their work from our team. We have a lot of work to do, with maybe 20% going to her team. The bottleneck in services at that team is her fault. Anyway, she's the kind of person who will send emails to ask questions to which the answers, if she had any reading comprehension, would be clear from context. I'm very clear and detailed in my notes - to the point that I am asked to train other people in that area. The most recent event with this manager was an email asking something to do with notes I'd made. I think she asked two questions, but her email was barely coherent so there could have been something I missed! I answered her questions (at least, I thought I did) in a polite and professional way. I apologised for not including a particular piece of information (that wasn't necessary to include because it was clear from the context) and provided the answers to the questions. She still responded with one of the same questions. I wasn't quite sure how else to explain that 'the customer has no support' means 'the customer has no support'. It seemed obvious to me that Idiot Manager had picked out a few words that she might use to get rid of that particular piece of work and tell me to send elsewhere. As I'd already answered her questions, which anyone with any reading comprehension wouldn't have needed to ask, I really wasn't sure how to respond. So I had a little rant to myself and another colleague then replied with what may have come across as rude. I am honestly past caring with her! All I said was along the lines that I took a caller saying they had no support to mean they had no support. I didn't get any further questions after that! My own manager wasn't around (Idiot Manager had copied in my manager. She must have thought her questions were reasonable or known my manager wasn't in. She and her team choose whether or not to copy in our manager, depending on whether they believe they're being reasonable. I mean, for example, they'll ask us to do things they know are not our job but will not copy in a manager on those occasions). I had no further correspondence from her after that anyway.
Anyway, I just thought I'd compare those two scenarios. I don't mind explaining things to people who don't know stuff about things they may never have known, had reason to learn, or even just forgot. Who'd have thought the Peak District would be hilly, hey?!
I do, however, have a problem with having to answer stupid questions from people supposedly 'above' me, and having to dumb it down so much. I used to work with children, and I have a lot of experience writing and editing. Between those two careers, I've been quite willing and able to change my language, repeat things, explain things in different ways. I have honestly never had to dumb anything down so much as I have for this manager!
Do you have any similar stories? Something that should have been obvious but wasn't until pointed out (like with my colleague and the hills) or a time when you've run out of ways to explain something you thought was simple in the first place?
Last weekend, a colleague of mine went to an event. I asked him how it was and where it was (as he couldn't remember before he went). He said it was in Derby - which is a town in the English county of Derbyshire in the East Midlands. My colleague said he had a good time but it was cold and hilly. Being cold enough for big coats and blankets in summer, I can understand him mentioning this. As for being hilly, Derby is in an area known as the Peak District. I'm not sure my colleague knew that! I was a little cheeky with him about that with a comment along the line of 'who would have thought the Peak District would be hilly?!' My colleague and I are friends with a similar sense of humour, so he didn't mind me teasing.
That one was a silly thing, my colleague possibly genuinely not thinking about what he'd said. A possible honest thing that he might not have even realised the area he was in (he said his friend drives while he pays no attention to where they are or where they're going
)
I have another colleague (in a different department, whom I have not met in real life). From my encounters with her, I have concluded that she's an idiot. Instead of spending 5 minutes doing her job, she seems to prefer spending hours emailing my team, seemingly looking for a way of her reducing her workload without a thought that it's increasing ours. Her team (she's the supposed manager) gets their work from our team. We have a lot of work to do, with maybe 20% going to her team. The bottleneck in services at that team is her fault. Anyway, she's the kind of person who will send emails to ask questions to which the answers, if she had any reading comprehension, would be clear from context. I'm very clear and detailed in my notes - to the point that I am asked to train other people in that area. The most recent event with this manager was an email asking something to do with notes I'd made. I think she asked two questions, but her email was barely coherent so there could have been something I missed! I answered her questions (at least, I thought I did) in a polite and professional way. I apologised for not including a particular piece of information (that wasn't necessary to include because it was clear from the context) and provided the answers to the questions. She still responded with one of the same questions. I wasn't quite sure how else to explain that 'the customer has no support' means 'the customer has no support'. It seemed obvious to me that Idiot Manager had picked out a few words that she might use to get rid of that particular piece of work and tell me to send elsewhere. As I'd already answered her questions, which anyone with any reading comprehension wouldn't have needed to ask, I really wasn't sure how to respond. So I had a little rant to myself and another colleague then replied with what may have come across as rude. I am honestly past caring with her! All I said was along the lines that I took a caller saying they had no support to mean they had no support. I didn't get any further questions after that! My own manager wasn't around (Idiot Manager had copied in my manager. She must have thought her questions were reasonable or known my manager wasn't in. She and her team choose whether or not to copy in our manager, depending on whether they believe they're being reasonable. I mean, for example, they'll ask us to do things they know are not our job but will not copy in a manager on those occasions). I had no further correspondence from her after that anyway.
Anyway, I just thought I'd compare those two scenarios. I don't mind explaining things to people who don't know stuff about things they may never have known, had reason to learn, or even just forgot. Who'd have thought the Peak District would be hilly, hey?!
I do, however, have a problem with having to answer stupid questions from people supposedly 'above' me, and having to dumb it down so much. I used to work with children, and I have a lot of experience writing and editing. Between those two careers, I've been quite willing and able to change my language, repeat things, explain things in different ways. I have honestly never had to dumb anything down so much as I have for this manager!
Do you have any similar stories? Something that should have been obvious but wasn't until pointed out (like with my colleague and the hills) or a time when you've run out of ways to explain something you thought was simple in the first place?2 people like this
1 response
@aureategloom (11025)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
6 Aug 21
From my encounters with her, I have concluded that she's an idiot. 
maybe she was asking what kind of support he doesn't have
hmmm i don't know if this counts, but i have colleagues who ask the same question over and over again
Monday:
-is the test on Friday?
-yes, 9am
Tuesday:
-which lessons?
-from 1 to 12
-and the test is on Friday?
-yeah
Thursday:
-THE TEST IS TOMORROW, RIGHT?
-yes
-WHEN?
-9am
or when they ask me to take a picture of my notes and i send them and they delete them (and of course i delete them too because I DON'T NEED THEM) and then after some time: "hey, can you send me these notes again, i deleted them haha ooops".

maybe she was asking what kind of support he doesn't have
hmmm i don't know if this counts, but i have colleagues who ask the same question over and over again
Monday:
-is the test on Friday?
-yes, 9am
Tuesday:
-which lessons?
-from 1 to 12
-and the test is on Friday?
-yeah
Thursday:
-THE TEST IS TOMORROW, RIGHT?
-yes
-WHEN?
-9am
or when they ask me to take a picture of my notes and i send them and they delete them (and of course i delete them too because I DON'T NEED THEM) and then after some time: "hey, can you send me these notes again, i deleted them haha ooops".1 person likes this
@pumpkinjam (8876)
• United Kingdom
6 Aug 21
Your colleagues sound much like students - are you a teacher, by any chance?!
We often ask the same questions over again in our office - they're usually questions like, "did the manager understand a word we said" or "why has the schedule changed?"
@aureategloom (11025)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
6 Aug 21
@pumpkinjam yes, we're all students haha

1 person likes this


