Excerpt from (St. Paul Pioneer Press) Bulletin Board, October 9, 2004

All in a day's work

Reports Poet X of PDX: "A long story which ends in a definition of irony:

"We had what I'm now calling a 'White House meeting' at work two nights ago. I didn't know that when we were asked for our comments, only those comments welcome by management would be deemed acceptable.

"Despite a co-worker's tale of a previous job where she complained and 'cut off my nose to spite my face,' I asked a manager if the talk of reviews and raises, mentioned eight weeks ago, was more than just words to pacify us, as weve seen no reviews or raises.

"Rather than answer my questions, our manager asked me if I'm a 'team player.' I was also asked to attend a special meeting-after-the-meeting for just me and the manager. I was told that negative attitudes (even after eight months of 53-hour weeks) are not acceptable.

"After the meeting-after-the-meeting, an otherwise quiet and somewhat new co-worker came to my desk to say she felt badly that I'd gotten the heat for expressing what most, if not all, others were feeling. The phrase that came to mind immediately was that I'd 'taken one for the team.'

"The irony? Being asked if I'm a team player not long before that.

"I'm not looking forward to our next White House meeting, but I'll know beforehand that that's what it is!

"At our next break, I was sure to ask the co-worker who used to be in the military how I looked without a nose."
 

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