passive aggressive whining....the advanced course
Anyone who's read here in the recent past knows of the event that has pretty much defined my year.
Sometime after Christmas I decided my weight was going in the wrong direction. Sometime in the spring, somebody convince me to channel my weight loss/health initiative into the MS Bike Ride. Since then I've been on a training and fund raising mission. So far both have been pretty successful, but not because I sat back and let them happen. It's because I made them happen.
Also, if you've read here for a real long time, you know about the whiners I work with. I haven't written about them recently, but they still exist, and they still whine. All the people I work with aren't whiners, but there is a contingent that does, and they are experts in the field.
One of the whiners is involved with a walk for the Lukemia and Lymphona Society. She has had lymphoma, so she's very passionate about the cause, and that's a good thing. I support what she's doing. I gave her a donation, about a month ago. Here's where the twist comes in though. She's a bit miffed at me. I know she is because she's mentioned on more than one occasion, that I've stolen all her donations. She's not getting as many people contributing to her cause as she expected, I suppose, and she's placing the blame firmly on me, and my more sucessful effort to solicit funds for the MS Society. Today, again, she said (in a half-joking tone) she's pissed at me for stealing all her donations...that nobody was contributing to her cause, and flipped me the double fisted bird. The thing is, she then proceeds to come to my desk and hand me money for the MS ride..a donation that exactly matches what I gave her. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if she handed me the exact same physical bills that I handed her a month ago. Who knows, maybe it's just an eeire coincidence that the denominations are exactly the same.
Sooooo...what? Is that meant to make me feel guilty or something? It does make me feel a little strange. What kind of message am I supposed to get out of all that? I kind-of get the feeling it's "Yeah I'm pissed at you, and this makes us even." If that's it, get over it. To be honest, the overwhelming majority of what I've raised has come from people outside of work. Some has come from coworkers, but not all that much, and some of what has come from there is from people she doesn't know or work around. I have also been actively soliciting pledges since March. She....hasn't. I think she expects people to just walk up and hand her money. Some folks will, but most won't, and it's not because they don't want to support you. It's because they have lives and your cause is far away from their radar screen if you don't help put it there. They need reminders. Then there's the fact that she's just a teeny bit abrasive (which, I know, you really wouldn't have guessed from someone who'd flip me off like that) and I'm...well...not. People are more inclined to be nice to someone who's nice to them, which I believe has helped my cause a little bit. In any case, it's made for a very strange morning.
Sometime after Christmas I decided my weight was going in the wrong direction. Sometime in the spring, somebody convince me to channel my weight loss/health initiative into the MS Bike Ride. Since then I've been on a training and fund raising mission. So far both have been pretty successful, but not because I sat back and let them happen. It's because I made them happen.
Also, if you've read here for a real long time, you know about the whiners I work with. I haven't written about them recently, but they still exist, and they still whine. All the people I work with aren't whiners, but there is a contingent that does, and they are experts in the field.
One of the whiners is involved with a walk for the Lukemia and Lymphona Society. She has had lymphoma, so she's very passionate about the cause, and that's a good thing. I support what she's doing. I gave her a donation, about a month ago. Here's where the twist comes in though. She's a bit miffed at me. I know she is because she's mentioned on more than one occasion, that I've stolen all her donations. She's not getting as many people contributing to her cause as she expected, I suppose, and she's placing the blame firmly on me, and my more sucessful effort to solicit funds for the MS Society. Today, again, she said (in a half-joking tone) she's pissed at me for stealing all her donations...that nobody was contributing to her cause, and flipped me the double fisted bird. The thing is, she then proceeds to come to my desk and hand me money for the MS ride..a donation that exactly matches what I gave her. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if she handed me the exact same physical bills that I handed her a month ago. Who knows, maybe it's just an eeire coincidence that the denominations are exactly the same.
Sooooo...what? Is that meant to make me feel guilty or something? It does make me feel a little strange. What kind of message am I supposed to get out of all that? I kind-of get the feeling it's "Yeah I'm pissed at you, and this makes us even." If that's it, get over it. To be honest, the overwhelming majority of what I've raised has come from people outside of work. Some has come from coworkers, but not all that much, and some of what has come from there is from people she doesn't know or work around. I have also been actively soliciting pledges since March. She....hasn't. I think she expects people to just walk up and hand her money. Some folks will, but most won't, and it's not because they don't want to support you. It's because they have lives and your cause is far away from their radar screen if you don't help put it there. They need reminders. Then there's the fact that she's just a teeny bit abrasive (which, I know, you really wouldn't have guessed from someone who'd flip me off like that) and I'm...well...not. People are more inclined to be nice to someone who's nice to them, which I believe has helped my cause a little bit. In any case, it's made for a very strange morning.
Labels: Bizarro World, Whining
John put this out here at 10:22 AM
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