Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
My Mean Streak
Tuesday
October 17, 2006
Thanks to a recommendation from the DC Bachelor, I checked out the blog Power, Seduction and War. The site is filled with some interesting posts... including an amazing piece that had a spot-on description of the Executive Meddler (the woman who made my life hell from January 2002-February 2003.) Here's the article, which is as on the mark as you can get with the situation I endured.
From the article:
|
Let me spell it out: with the psychotic boss, nothing you do is ever quite right. They set traps, asking you to do things, and no matter how hard you think of accomplishing it in their way, it is wrong and you are to blame. This tends to instill a lot of fear in you. (The effect of unpredictability I describe in one of the laws of power.) There will be occasional explosions of anger, not too often, but which will stay in your mind for weeks. They start to occupy much of your mental space, as you go home thinking of what you did wrong, what you can do in the future, how to please, or deflect punishment. It starts to consume you. Nothing you do seems to improve the situation.
|
|
If you wanted me to write a paragraph summing up the Meddler, that would be the one. I plan to buy Robert Greene's 48 Rules of Power in the very near future. If he's that spot-on about the Meddler prototype (and it's scary to think that she's not a one-off evil), I wonder what other knowledge he has to share.
I wonder sometimes if people think I'm exaggerating when I talk about this. Ask Brian and Neal and Jamie (who all also suffered similar torment from her) if it's an exaggeration. Yes, it was 3½-4 years ago, but I have a long memory and a mean streak that hides beneath the surface. And a platform from which to speak. Read this if you're not up to speed. If there's any consolation, it's that the rest of the newsroom at WTSP observed what happened and made sure that her venom stayed out of their lives.
Apparently I wasn't alone in the disdain I expressed recently for those self-checkout machines. This article chronicles one woman's experience with her husband at Home Depot and the frustration that it created for her. Thanks to my friend Amanda for the link info.
Note to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, et al: business is not a sum zero game. That concept warrants deep consideration. A little customer service can go a long way.
The St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets tonight to take a 3-2 lead in the NLCS. Go Cards...
|
