Every workplace has a character like this. Not just a coworker. A whole movie production walking through the door every morning.
At my Job, , the computer stay running, and the phones don’t stop ringing., it's all about getting accurate information and Missed detail could get us written up so quick. And yet somehow, there are people who defy gravity and get away with everything..
Now in the middle of that room we had someone. For the sake of peace and storytelling, we’ll call her Chrissy.
Baby… Chrissy could greet a room.
Every morning she swept through the door like she was arriving at Sunday brunch. Bright voice. Big smile. A “Good morning!” so loud it bounced off the monitors and the cubicle walls.
And the attire. Was always Extra, Extra! Loud prints. Big earrings swinging like church bells. And a perfume that covered up a cigarette smell that was unnecessarily loud!
It's like for the first 10 minutes please the sunshine of the room, but as soon as the workload forms. She turned into monster diva.
Our the job is simple in principle even if it’s intense in practice. Calls come in. Shipments move. Situations unfold. When the phone rings, whoever answers it owns the situation.
Your call.
Your log.
Your responsibility.
That’s the spine of what we do. It's kind of like dispatch but we don't command anyone we basically take orders, and make sure they get to where they are going by following up with those who call us.. we are basically a solid middle man. You drop a load, we check off, that's bare Bones. That's basically what we do.
Except apparently… Chrissy.
She could answer a call, listen just long enough to realize it required actual effort, and suddenly she’d transform into the Transfer Fairy.
“Oh let me transfer you.”
Click.
Responsibility floated like a hot potato and somehow always landed on us who were already juggling five situations at once.
Now mind you, while the rest of us were leaning into our monitors trying to keep the whole operation breathing, Chrissy had her own department running.
Personal calls.
Side conversations.
Workplace rumors.
If intelligence agencies ever needed an unofficial surveillance system, they could’ve just pulled up a chair next to Chrissy. She knew everybody’s business except the shipment moving across the board in front of her.
And Lord… she was loud
Laughing loud.
Talking loud.
Burping loud.
Passing Gas ...
Everything!
Now sometimes, I’ll be honest, it was funny. You’d look up and just shake your head like “Did this lady really just do that?”
But after a while, it becomes a bit annoying
Because while the comedy show rolls on, the rest of have pretty much take responsibility for the tasks she was initially supposed to handle.
And here’s the thing about people like that.
They are sweet… when eyes are watching.
The moment I walked in the room, she was sugar.
“Hey girl!”
But the same mouth that was sweet in my face had a whole separate broadcast channel running when other people walked by. Especially the younger women. Calling grown women “little girls” like she was the elder of a village nobody elected her to lead.
That kind of two-channel behavior tells you everything you need to know.
Now the twist came right before she quit...
Suddenly Chrissy felt she was being “targeted.”
Now listen.
This was after months of ducking responsibility, slowing the room down, stirring gossip, and redistributing work like she was the Secretary of Labor for Other People’s Effort.
Meanwhile the supervisors kept saying the same thing over and over.
Skill means nothing if the room doesn’t function.
And truth be told, the room couldn’t breathe the way it needed to while somebody was constantly avoiding the work.
I never disliked Chrissy as a person.
She had moments where she was genuinely funny and easy to be around.
But the work…I just can't work with her.
Chrissy's habits kept landing on other people’s shoulders...
Today we found out that she quit.
And I’ll tell you something you can feel the moment you walk into the room.
The air is different. The calls move smoother. It's like a band finally playing in the same key again.
And Baby that silence is peace.
A room will always reveal who carries the weight… and who only carries the conversation.
Time always sides with the people doing the work.
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