Monday, June 27, 2011

I'm sorry...what?!

Day 2 of noticing the Lord's hand in my life and the funny things from my day...

Aha:  I returned to work today from a week's vacation and needless to say I was swamped.  When it was time to sort the faxes I was greeted by an absolute mess.  (Thank you Wisconsin humidity!!)
This isn't the first time I've seen this so I combat it with a sense of humor and go about my now more-than-normal detailed sorting.  Whilst sorting I came across some faxes that did not belong to any one of our physicians so I gathered them up and called the sender to inform them of this error.  While talking with the sender it happened to come up that although the documents should be shredded to be safe, they had worked with one of our docs in the past.  I noted this and thought I should save the faxes until I could just double check with that physician that they weren't, by chance, meant to go to her.  Long story short--I continue to plunge through my very busy morning only to have it interrupted by a very angry physician looking for the very faxes I had so thoughtfully held aside.  I held them up triumphantly and declared I had saved them from a sure-shredding for her, just in case.  She proceeds to tell me I've created a big mess because I didn't come find her the second they came across the machine (how was I to do this if I didn't know who they belonged to??)  Anyway, she leaves but comes back a few minutes later to tell me I've missed the first eight pages.  I told her that because of the above disaster, I had to take extra time to go through each sheet that came through and I gave her exactly what we got.  She continued her unusual form of gratitude for my thoughtfulness by questioning my ability to read faxes and put them in the right order off the machine.  I began to feel a bit frustrated that she was turning my kindness into an opportunity to yell at me in front of my coworkers.  This is where the "aha" came into play.  At that moment, I felt a total clarity of mind and emotion and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you are upset with me.  These faxes were saved for you as a favor."  She continued to complain and I responded, "Your name was not on the fax so I contacted the sender who only happened to mention your name in a different part of the conversation.  As a favor, I set these forms aside for you just in case.  I also did not know these were a priority and I have been very busy taking care of other time-sensitive issues this morning.  Would you like me to call the sender to see where the first eight pages went?"  She was still angry, so I said, "I'm happy to help in this situation, but I don't understand what you want me to do."  I could tell she was running out of steam because I wasn't giving in to her bullying.  She said that wasn't good enough and huffed off like a three-year-old and I returned to my work.  A moment later, my coworker's phone rang.  Dr. Cranky (name has been changed to spare the insolent) asked her to call the sender and locate the missing pages.  Lo and behold...they did not send them because they were being sent by another sender entirely.  Turns out not only can I read and distribute faxes properly, but I can defend myself and my capabilities as an administrative assistant to a huffety-puffety doctor with an aggressive attitude to boot!  Go me and thank the Lord for a quick mind and a peaceful demeanor in the face of adversity!!

Ha ha:  I listen to talk radio in the morning while I get ready for work.  It is always filled with news and information, but today I was greeted with an unexpected but especially welcome little nuggety-treat.  The story was on coconut water and how prices are becoming burdensome to vendors who use it in their drink mixes.  Seemingly innocent story right?  Well, as talk shows usually do, they consulted with a nutrition/food economist specialist named...Harry Balzer.  Say it out loud my friends if you must.  Not only was his name Harry Balzer, but they kept shortening the topic of coconuts to just "nuts".  Harry Balzer, a specialist on nuts.  Clinton and I promptly began laughing, as any sane person with a sense of humor would do and continued to do so throughout the entire 5-minute segment!  I believe Clinton summed the story up best as he declared, "Harry Balzer really knows his nuts."

1 comment:

  1. Oh man! I used to work with people like that! Not fun. I can't believe Dr. Cranky is treating you like that. I'm glad you were right in the end. And who has the last name Balzer? That is awesome!

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