With All of the WORKPLACE DRAMA: How Does Anyone Get Any Work Done?

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Chapter Four

2008-09-09T20:37:00.001-05:00

Office politics can be crazy. I had never really experienced office politics at the magnitude that they were exhibited here at Donnelly Industries. It was amazing to watch it all unfold. What no one knew about me was that I was very observant. I noticed things that no one else noticed; even more, I noticed things that I had no business noticing. It was no wonder that I was noticing things around the office that I know shouldn't be going on.

It seemed that there was some inappropriate interacting going on. It appeared that Dana spent a lot of time in Kelvin's office. I assumed that they were talking about work, but she always seemed to be draped over his desk, shoving extra large breasts in his face. She seemed to be giggling a lot, too. From what I had heard from Kelvin, he wasn't that funny.

I had been warned by Ron to keep my nose out of things.

"Dana, you are a good worker. Do your work, keep your nose clean, and don't be extra friendly with these people. They will use what you say against you. Always remember, people are watching you. No one has your back here. Cover your own butt."

I smiled and thanked him for his advice. Coming from a man that was obviously over qualified for the job, it was sage advice.

I kept my eyes open as well as prayed. I liked Donnelly Industries, so I wanted to see it flourish. I needed the job as well. With the economy being what it was, I really needed the job.

Samuel walked by me smiling. I shook my head and nodded. I didn't trust that joker as far as I could throw him. There was just something shady about him. He was always in David's face, rather in his rear end. It was amazing, Samuel would tattle on the people in the department to David, and David would then turn and tattle to Kelvin. Last time I had checked, this wasn't the first grade. I thought we all were grown folk, but I guess that might not have been the case.

I shook my head as I watch Samuel creep right over to David's desk. Samuel looked around the room before saying something to David. I wish I could have read lips, as nosey as I was; I wanted to know who they were talking about. I went back to my work; I didn't want to give either one of them anything to say about me.

Chapter Three

2008-08-15T12:17:00.001-05:00

I don't think I was truly ready to work at Donnelly Industries. It was a bit hectic. I could handle that. It was a bit high strung. I could handle that. It was very political. I couldn't handle that.

I hate office politics. It takes to much energy to keep track of whose derriere needed to be kissed and how to do it. I was never one to do that. I always manage to get into trouble when it comes to office politics. Meeting Kelvin Anderson would let me know that Donnelly Industries had its on version of office politics.

Kelvin Anderson walked into our area. He walked into the area with a haughtiness that I had never experienced before. I paid no attention to it. He was a peacock parading around the room and I had no interest in this peacock. Apparently, everyone else was interested in him. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and focused on Kelvin. He looked nice in his well starched khakis and his even stiffer white dress shirt. The top two buttons were opened, slightly showing a little of his chest hairs. Diane looked at his opened shirt for far too long. I could only shake my head when I saw what she was looking at. I though to myself, "Lord, this place is going to need a lot of prayer."

Kelvin controlled the room with his baritone voice. He spoke just above a whisper so that everyone would have to concentrate on him and nothing else. He was conceited.

He talked about something, I wasn't paying attention. I had no interest in what he was saying. To be honest, if it had nothing to do with my work, I didn't care. He talked for a few minutes when he realized that I wasn't paying attention to him. He walked over to my desk, stopped, and cleared his throat. I looked up at him. He said, "Do you know who I am?" I smiled at him and said, "No, I don't. Who are you?" He said, "I am Kelvin Anderson, the Director of this department." He said the word director with emphasis, as if it was to let me know that he was somebody and that I needed to pay attention to him. I extended my hand and said, "Nice to meet you. I am Dana McCombs." He made no attempt to shake my hand. He didn't even acknowledge it. Before he walked off he said, "When I am talking, you need to make sure you are listening. What I have to say is important!"

That was that, office politics at its best. I knew from that moment on, I was on Kelvin's bad side.

Chapter Two

2008-07-11T14:33:00.001-05:00

The first week at Donnley Industries went well. No one bothered me with too much work. They let me get acclimated to my new position. They brought me random work, from time to time. I was given various tasks that I completed with little trouble. I felt like I would like it here, for the time that I was going to be here.

Finally, I met Diane Peterson. She sauntered over to my desk, smiling a big smile. I looked up at her and smiled. I wasn't expecting anything crazy to happen. I figured that she was just going to give me some work to do. I couldn't have been more wrong.

"How are you liking it here so far?" Diane asked sweetly.

I smiled at here, "It is going good so far."

"Are you having any problems with the work?" She asked with a crooked grin.

I shook my head in a negative manner, "I am not having a problem."

She made a face, "Well, I am having a problem with your work. Are you sure you were trained right? You are entering my information in wrong and I need my stuff entered right. My parts won't ship out right if you don't enter them right."

She went on like that for a few more minutes. I just stared at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.

When she finally finished, I said, "I apologize for any problems I may have caused. Please show me what I am doing wrong."

She smiled as if she had won some battle. I chose not to act a fool with her. It was only by the grace of God that she didn't get cussed out.

She leaned over next to me so that she could look at my computer screen. She was much too close and her perfume was burning my nostrils. She pointed to some items on the computer screen. Then she reached over me, brushing her store bought breasts against my arm. She grabbed my mouse and clicked several times to show me some more things. I wrote things down as quickly as I possibly could; trying to keep up with her fast paced talking. When she finished, I was more confused than helped. I just wanted her to leave my desk so I told her that I had understood what she was trying to express to me. She walked off. I reached for a tissue and tried to blow the smell of her perfume from my nose. The stench would not go away.

Emmanuel Fredrick leaned back in his chair so that he could see my face. He laughed, "Don't worry, she only gets worse." He laughed and leaned back forward. I couldn't help but laugh.

Chapter One

2008-06-15T13:52:00.000-05:00

I came in as a temp to fill the position that was being vacated by this guy. He was moving back home to Iowa.

The temp agency had told me to dress in business casual attire. When I got to Donnley Industries, I found everyone in jeans, shorts, and t-shirts. I felt overdressed.

I met Keith, the guy who was leaving. He told me about the company and then began to train me on my job. The job was simply enough. I was given a piece of paper that contained the data on it that I needed to input into the system.

Keith did three of them, and then asked if I wanted to do some of them. Being eager to begin, I responded with a yes. Keith let me do some of the shipping. He didn't do anymore shipping after that.

I met Emmanuel Frederick. He was an older African-American guy. He was stocky. He had a funny shape and a very high behind. He was the one who brought me my work. Keith kept giving Emmanuel a hard time each time that he came by the desk. On one trip by the desk, Emmanuel said, "You can dish out all the jokes, smart remarks, and comments that you want to, just make sure you can take what you dish out." I smiled and took that to heart.

The next day, I returned to Donnley, backpack, CDs, and CD player in hand. I was ready to work. Keith was already there. He was surfing the net. At 7:00 AM promptly, Keith trained me on another aspect of my job, sorting, stamping, and inputting the invoices. Keith inputted four invoices before letting me input some. I did. This was going to be an easy assignment.

The next two days progressed the same way. Keith would teach me a new part of my job; I would learn the task easily and then work on it on my own.

This job was an easy assignment with only a small hitch or two.

Kelvin Anderson

2008-05-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

Kelvin Anderson is the director of the department. He is a guy that thinks he is all that. With his classic features, curly gray hair, ocean blue eyes, and confident walk, he is a nice looking man. His arrogant nature leaves a lot to be desired. Despite all of that, he has run the department in a profitable manner for many years.

Peter Robertson

2008-05-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

Peter Robertson is a grimy guy.  He has a long mustache that is always matted up.  His hair never looks combed.  It's scattered all over his head as if he just woke and shook his head.

He is the manager of the department.  He often seems scared when he has to correct and employee.

He is an excellent manager.  He always listens to his employees.  He cares about his employees.  He rewards them when they do well.

Everyone hates to ask him a question because he takes 30 minutes to answer a 45 second question.

David Goodstein

2008-05-25T20:45:00.000-05:00

David Goodstein does something, but most of the time, he is sitting in the director's office laughing it up. He reports everything that he sees and hears to the director, even if the information is partial, wrong, or misinterpreted.

Diane Peterson

2008-05-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

Diane Peterson is the office tramp. She is as nice as she can be, but she carries herself in such a smutty way. She wears tight pants and even tighter blouses, showing what either God has given her or money has bought her. She flounces around whenever a man is in the vicinity and always manages to be standing too close to a man that she is talking to.

It is rumored that she might have been or might be involved with the director of the department. Who really knows?

Ron Jackson

2008-05-25T20:20:00.001-05:00

Ron Jackson is the parts vendor liaison. He talks to parts vendors when there is a problem. He does his job, speaks when spoken to, and manages to out a fire with diplomatic ease, every now and then.

Carter Grimes

2008-05-25T20:20:00.000-05:00

Carter Grimes is a work order specialist.  He opens work orders, monitors their path, handles any problems with them, and gets them to the appropriate people once they are sent to the vendors.

He was once a manager at a large warehouse.  If Donnley used his knowledge, Donnley would be a much better company.

Carter no longer wants to be a manager, having put 15 years in at the position.

Carter has a wealth of knowledge that he is always willing to share.  He is a cool guy that is fun to be around.

Samuel Nelson

2008-05-25T20:16:00.001-05:00

Samuel Nelson is a records keeper. He gets information from the vendors and gives it to me to enter into the system.

No one in the department cares for him. He is a brown nosing, tattle-tale that reports everything to the manager, while making himself look golden.

He is despised by almost every member of the department because he goes around looking at other people's computers to see what they are doing.

Brenda Henderson

2008-05-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

Brenda Henderson is, well, I don't exactly know what she does other than surf the net, talk on the phone, and walk around.

She rarely does any work. She is nosey and is constantly butting into other folk's conversations. No one really likes her, we just tolerate her.

Emmanuel Fredrick

2008-05-25T20:15:00.000-05:00

Emmanuel Fredrick is a vendor liaison. He talks to vendors when there is a problem, concern, or incident.

He is a very quiet guy until you get him riled up, and then look out. Once you get to know him, you will find out that is a knowledgeable, worldly man.

Micahya Thomas

2008-05-25T20:14:00.000-05:00

Micahya Thomas is an invoice clerk at Donnley. She processes the invoices to be paid.
She is a great person with and infectious attitude that can turn bad the moment that you cross her. She speaks her mind without any reservation.

Micahya and I are friends. We laugh and talk from time to time. We have to stick together being that we are the only African-American women in the department.

Dana McCombs

2008-05-25T15:48:00.000-05:00

This is me. I am a shipping clerk here at Donnley Industries. I keep track of when we and outsource vendors ship parts and equipment back to the customer.

I am a fun-loving person who likes to see everyone have fun and enjoy themselves. I like to keep the peace as well. Several of the employees talk to me from time to time when they need to free themselves from something that is bothering them. At times, I wonder why I am chosen.

The Major Players

2008-05-25T14:11:00.000-05:00

Micahya Thomas - A for real down sister
Emmanuel Fredrick - A quiet unassuming man who knows his stuff
Brenda Henderson - A slacker that gets away with murder
Samuel Nelson - The manager's brown nosing pet
Carter Grimes - A former manager who should be in charge
Ron Jackson - A true worker that does his job and rarely speaks
Diane Peterson - The office tramp who crazes attention
David Goodstein - The director's pet
Peter Robertson - The timid scary manager
Kelvin Anderson - The pretty boy director
Dana McCombs - The Christian who keeps the whole place from falling apart

Donnley Industries

2008-05-24T21:32:00.000-05:00

Donnley Industries is a company that repairs and outsource repairs industrial machinery equipment and parts. Donnley is the top company in its field. It has branches all over the US and in Mexico. Donnley prides itself on being a leader in the industry.

WorkPlace Drama

2008-05-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

Workplace Drama is something that I have noticed working in a small company. It is a trip out here. Folks can't get along. Certain people don't like certain other people. People are rude and won't speak.

There are the normal people in the workplace. There is the for real sister, who doesn't take anything from anyone. The guy who is quiet and always does his work, but if he gets upset enough, he will let you know. There is the lady who gets away with murder just because she thinks she can. The brown noser who's nose is so far up the boss's behind, that you can see his head coming out of the boss's throat. The guy who was once a manager and was laid off and now he doesn't want the hassle, but if he were in charge, the department would run much better. The guy who just does his job and is cordial when necessary. The office tramp, which thinks she is the hottest thing in the world, but truthfully everyone talks about her behind her back. There is the "assistant manager" who has his head up the director's tail. The manager who is just too scary for anyone taste. The director of the department who thinks he is all that plus a little bit more, but truth be told; he seems like nothing more than hot air and a waste of skin. Then there is me, the Christian who tries to keep all hell from breaking loose from all of the WORKPLACE DRAMA.