THE "LOOK HOW GOOD I AM" MENTALITY

I work with a truly diverse and interesting group of people. Unlike the person in my previous blog this person is the total opposite she tells you every god- blessed thing that takes place. She has the most annoying habit however of conspiring, meaning nothing she does is staight forward. She will answer no qustion if she did not plan the scenario on which it would be asked.

Example one day it was raining and i didnt have an umbrella, so i wanted one to borrow to go for lunch, this was at 1pm, I in my ignornce went to ask her if i could borrow hers to go to the canteen and come back (she was eating lunch at the computer and checking her mail). i was then presented with a long monologue of how she had planned to leave at 12:30 to go to the doctor and how she got caught up in work and didnt get to go etc. etc. so i said fine and borrowed someone elses when i get back she asks if i didnt want hers to borrow.

she is forever going behind your back and complains to the lab manager about every little problem from one person not turning of the pipe properly to the machines being cleaned. if she has a problem with someone she goes first to the supervisor or if she is not here the Division manager. she never tries to solve a problem. she is never responsible for anything and she steps in and out as she pleases and makes up an excuses for everything. she gets on everybodies nerves.

I have gotten to the point that i speak to her only when absolutely necessary, because i know that i am a very feisty person. A fellow coworker got so fed up of her daily complaints to the manager that she did up a roster for and asked her to give her a letter grade as to how well she did her work at the end of each day.

i have come to the conclusion that she just wants the managers to see how good and effecient she is and wants to paint everyone in a bad light. why? I dont know, it wont get her a promotion or a raise of pay. All i can say is aaaaaaaaaaagh and try to avoid her.

THE CONSPIRACY THEORY

I have the most interesting coworker.I dont want to call her paranoid or overly cautious in her behavior, but it is weird. She is of the opinion that the more people know about you the more power they have over you. This is true to an extent but when you start trying to protect yourself from every possible thing, is when you get caught up in the conspiracy theory.

Example she has a son. If she had her way people would not even know she had a son. She doesnt want people to know his name or his age, or if a coworker asks about him in school she gets very defensive and very upset and starts speculating on why someone would want that kind of informaton. Her rational is that a person only asks for information if they plan to use it. in a work place envioronment where other people have children too it is very likely that people talk about there children and inquire out of kind curiosity, she doesnt see it that way.

Now i am a very open person if you ask me anything you are very likely to get an answer. But then i start to wonder if i am too open. I dont want to get caught up in that kind of behavior, but it is necessary on some level to protect oneself. i dont give out private information as a rule but other details about my life, as far as i am concerned all people can do is talk about it and that generally doesnt bother me. People will find something to say about you antway so you might as well give them the truth so they dont have to make things up (and that is assuming people know you exist).