keep your enemies closer......

So everyone has those people in their office that just can't get along, right? They are both good people, and try to do their jobs well, but try as they may, they cannot get along. I think we have some great examples from modern TV.... (Michael and Toby from The Office being an amazingly funny one!)

Well..... the office I work in is no different..... Let me set the stage for you (*names have been altered to protect the innocent). Let me introduce the combatants.

In this corner we have a lady from Nepal in my office, she is one of those people that makes you wonder how she got her job in the first place. She has had about 10jobs in the last 10 years and runs almost every company she gets affiliated with into the ground. She knows the answer to every question, has all the best ideas, and blames a specific department for every shortcoming of the company. We lovingly call her the Princess.

In the other corner we find our Panamanian friend, who has been working in corporate America since her kids were in highschool. She has a masters degree, came to our company from a respected company, and is very giving. This is the kind of lady you want to be your mother in law (or one lady in our office does in particular).

Try as they may, the Pamananian and the Princess cannot get along. They argue about who left dirty dishes in the sink, who dropped what ball on a particular project etc. Let me give one example:

The Princess was in charge of all customer announcements that went out for the first several months of her employ, until one day it was decided that that particular duty would be handeled by the CS department. One sticking point though...... no one told the CS department they were in now in charge of the announcements that had to go out in about 30 minutes! The Princess blamed everyone else but herself for the miscommunication . Over came the Pamamanian.

Panamanian: Hey, uhm did you know that CS cannot do your job for you? It's now 30 minutes before the announcement goes out, and you cannot stay to do it because you have a party to go to??

Princess: That's right.... I told their boss about this this morning. It's not my fault. I have an important birthday party to be to tonight, my own (oh yea, I forgot, it's the Princess' birthday when this happens)

Panamanian: You have been floating along, doing nothing and pushing work on other for far too long now!

After that, they would argue every so often about who dropped what ball, and who messed up etc. Names were tossed around. The Panamanaian wasn't a good Christian. The Princess had no idea what she was doing and was ill qualified. But then, about 2 weeks ago, a miracle happened..... They started talking cordially! They see each other and compliment each other on their jobs well done, and engage in chit chat! What happened? Did they decide to bury the hatchet? Did they come to some agreement about office civility?

Some things my friends, like Area 51, Bigfoot and what really is in Twinkie filling will always remain a mystery. But i think this is summed up best by a familiar phrase from the Godfather II
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"