There's one in every work group. You know the guy; he's the one that always thinks he has a better plan. No matter what's going on, it's all screwed up.
"We shouldn't be doing it this way," he'll proclaim to anybody unlucky enough to be in earshot. "This is all screwed up. It'll never work."
When things go well, he dismisses it with a shrug and a "Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day. They got lucky." But let things go wrong, and it's "See! I told you they didn't have a clue. I knew they were all screwed up. But would they listen to me? Heck no! Gotta keep the peons in their place; that's the way the Man thinks!" And somehow, you can hear the capital "M" in his voice.
Of course, the guy never has any real ideas on how things should be done better; he just likes to make himself feel important by his constant carping. Try and pin him down on ways to improve the job, and you get, "Hell, that ain't my job. I just do what I'm told. But I'm smart enough to know what's what, I'll tell you that much."
Gee, thanks. "What's what." Never would have thought of that.
The endless stream of negativity from this dolt drives his co-workers nuts, not to mention his poor supervisor, until they eventually learn to ignore the whiny little bugger. Usually by then, he manages to transfer into a new group, so he can terrorize them for a few months.
You all know him, and have had to work with him at some point, so here's my question:
Would you put that lousy son of a bitch in charge of anything more important than counting the wood in the scrap bin?
Just a thought....
Posted by Rich at July 19, 2003 12:35 AM | TrackBack