Sunday, November 18, 2007

Once a Bridesmaid

I'm a bridesmaid in my best pal from high school's wedding. I bet you're thinking I'm going to start complaining about the perils of living under a bridezilla's grasp. On the contrary, this soire is the only thing besides Coachella that I'm looking forward to in 2008.

I went in for my first bridesmaid dress fitting while I was in NYC for Thanksgiving. I was so excited to try on dresses and ponder the idea of getting dolled up to support a special celebration.

N, the happy bride, and I had so much fun in high school picking out prom dresses and getting ready for that occasion in our lives. Oddly enough for me, the color of the bridesmaid dress is much like the color of my prom dress except it's a different fabric. N sorted it out with the company so the 6 bridesmaids could choose from 5 dress styles that would suit us best. I went for the 'Lucy' style which is a straightfoward A-line strapless cut. It's forgiving of my ginormous hips which I pray will help me in childbirth.


In any case, I'm ready for the next round of fitting or what have you. Check out the dress: this isn't the color, but it's the cut. Holler at cha gurl!




Saturday, November 3, 2007

Sociopaths in the Workplace Part 2

With a week to close, CP had suddenly fallen ill. I should have spotted this a mile away as the classic 'stay home from school because I forget to study for a big test' routine. At the office, I tried to follow up on all the clients she claimed she'd gotten signed contracts for our magazine program to coordinate ad artwork production.

Time and again during the week, I'd call voicemails without getting any response from clients she said knew I was calling to collect artwork and would have the materials ready. Four days to close, and she threw me under the bus. She told the magazine's Associate Publisher, who happens to be a Diva himself, that she'd given me her contracts. She communicated via cell phone as she was 'too sick' to come to the office. Since she popped in sporadically during the week post sales calls (her territory was the East Bay), it was a possibility that she'd left contracts on my desk.

Unfortunately for her, I was extremely conscious of every paper coming through my desk because I hadn't seen a contract that would increase our ad sales in the past three weeks! A contract would have been like getting Wonka's golden ticket. I would not have lost it. Not that this saved me from the rather of Mr. Queen who thought I'd somehow thrown them out or lost them.

On the Friday before a close on Wednesday, she comes in on a rainy day lugging her sales suitcase and wearing her red patent leather high heeled rain shoes. I try not to shoot her dirty looks as she's aready thrown me under and had my boss question my organization. Instead I get over my fustrations and, I ask her about the contracts and somehow the conversation turns to my love life---again, she managed to avoid the subject. Annoyed that yet again no one is paying attention to the necessary, I get back to making sure all the advertisers listed for our issue have the corresponding paperwork and artwork ready to go to the printer. Meanwhile, Mr. Queen the Associate Publisher took CP out to lunch as she was leaving for the day. She was 'sick' after all and had only come in for an hour to check in.

When Mr.Queen came back, he had a bombshell in his hand. CP had given him her resignation---not because she couldn't hack her sales which were supposed to total $65K, but because she was apparently so sick she had to get surgery the following Tuesday to have a biopsy on tumors that were on her lungs.


excerpts from "What Is A Sociopath?" on www.wisegeek.com
:

The main characteristic of a sociopath is a disregard for the rights of others. Sociopaths are also unable to conform to what society defines as a normal personality. Antisocial tendencies are a big part of the sociopath’s personality. This pattern usually comes into evidence around the age of 15. If it is not treated, it can develop into adulthood.

Visible symptoms include physical aggression and the inability to hold down a steady job.

Research has shown that the sociopath is usually a person with an abundance of charm and wit.