Friday, August 22, 2008

So, THAT's what they mean by CRAZY

My new boss is insane. Now, don't get me wrong, she's a wicked nice human being. She's sweet, kind, smart and she's pretty funny to boot. But she's CAH RAY ZEE.

Thursday morning, I had a beautiful commute. I hopped on the 8:02 express train, settled in and a short 57 minutes later I was walking into my office. One look at my watch showed 9:00. Ding ding ding. I powered on my computer, set my bag down, picked up my phone to quickly place an order for flowers for my parents' anniversary. In comes bosslady (moniker TBD), all a flutter.

"You have a nine o'clock!"

"I didn't have one on my calendar. I'm pretty sure I only have an 11 today."

"A reminder for a nine o'clock came up on my calendar!"

I look at her. "Well, I don't know who I'm supposed to be meeting with. I don't think I have one until Joseph at 11. I checked." To the phone. "I'm sorry I'll have to call you back."

At this point, she's rushed out of my office, across the hall, to her office. She's frantically checking her email. I stick my head into her office. "Do you know who it's supposed to be with? I really don't have anything on my planner or my Outlook calendar...."

She looks up sheepishly. "I guess I never dismissed the reminder for your meeting yesterday at nine with Mark. Sorry."

Yea, um, sure. Tell that to my racing heart and pounding adrenaline.

So, yea. She's kind of high strung. I've had IT guys, facilities folk and finance peeps all wishing me good luck. And they don't even really know her either.

I realize (from years of therapy, yoga, self-help books and good ole-fashioned insight) that a lot of her erratic behavior comes from insecurity and the overt need for approval. But still! It's gonna take a lot for me to maintain my composer in the light of her high-strung, nervous energy.

Of course, since I got a lot of sleep last night and I did a lot of yoga today, I can make the statement that I can deal with her behavior rationally and respond not react and use it all as fodder for my great novel. But the reality is more likely that she's gonna drive me bonkers.

Stay tuned, dear readers. This might just get interesting...