LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 11: 10th entry
Season: Summer
Weather: Humid and rainy in the morning with intermittent breaks in the clouds for short periods of glorious sunshine to dry up all the rain. Short tufts of cooling breezes.
Day of the week: Tuesday
Date: 23nd January, 2024
After last night's reminder not to go into work today, I was called into work. Apparently Anthony Duin was going into a crackdown on unhealthy work practices and culture and I was being called in to be interviewed. Take it as an impromptu performance review, my team leader said.
I arrived in time to be dragged into a departmental review with both our direct boss, Anthony Duin and one of the other big bosses sitting in as witness. As usual, I was 'volunteered' to take the minutes. Because my minute meetings are the next and most details, so my department's manager boasted.
Which made me sigh, as usual, because it meant that people would pile more work on me in the future. I'm a human recorder. Haha.
See the glum look on my face, boss. Look at me. Please don't give me more work. I have plenty enough as it is.
The departmental review meeting was more of a mediation session between us the little workers and our direct line boss, while the bigger boss made sure our direct line boss toed the line. Ah. It was so satisfying to see him have to humble himself.
In short, everyone in our department is going to have staggered break days or shortened weeks for a while, partially to use up all our time-in-lieu and partially to use up our enormous accumulation of annual leave. It made everyone cheer. Me, not the least. I just kept it inside and expressed my happiness with a smile, while typing.
After that meeting was over, we had individual 'performance reviews' to figure out how much leave we would each receive and when we would be taking our leave. Again, with the 3 bosses, which had all of us sweating before we entered and drenched in sweat upon coming out of the interview room.
Do the bosses realise how much pressure we are under when we have to face a table of three interrogative gazes?
Anyway, I get to have Wednesdays off for the rest of the year. And that's only to use up the time-in-lieu. How cool is that? I should book a holiday.
Next year, though, my direct line boss added. Not this year. There were too many projects and go-lives and things planned for this year.
Add to that, they're going to slap a penalty on those of us who end up working overtime, whether on the books or not. The penalty being that we have to buy coffee for our direct line team boss, and personally deliver them with an explanation why we are giving them coffee.
At the end of the meeting, my direct line boss ordered me to run and fetch him a coffee. I owed him one, he said, for last night. It wasn't said in jest. It was said in a demanding, condescending and derogatory manner. It was said with malice glinting in the eyes.
Stupid pig face.
There were two other bosses in here of a higher level than him and they saw everything.
The faces of Anthony Duin and the higher up big boss changed colour, when they realised just how my direct line manager might use his power and authority to take advantage of and oppress our department after they left. They hastily told me to forget the coffee and sent me out.
There was a row in the interview room after that, but it had nothing to do with me anymore. I hoped. And then... well... I went back to work.
At the end of the day, I just happened to share the elevator with my direct line boss who, to understate things, was extremely displeased, and seemed to feel whatever dressing down he got was my fault.
Despite me supposed to be getting Wednesdays off for the rest of the year, I have to come into work tomorrow.
Unreliable promises. Unreliable bosses. What can a little worker on the floor like me do?