# another "was this wrong?" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918 "2013-05-09T19:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/1 "2013-05-09T19:10:36Z")
First the background. Linda lives in Idaho and is the superior of Bill and George. Bill lives in Kansas. George lives in Iowa and is the superior of Bob Bob also lives in Kansas and is good friends with Bill. Got that? ```auto Idaho-Linda | | Kansas-Bill Iowa-George | Kansas-Bob ``` Bob and Bill are fairly good friends. They started with the company at the same time. Linda has (IMHO) always thought that Bill was the golden child. Bob and Bill were out to lunch one day; and Bob made a mistake and didn’t realize he had a conference call scheduled at that time. During lunch Linda called Bill and asked if Bob was with him. He says yes, and she asks him to ask Bob why he’s not on the conference call. 😕 She has Bob’s number. Why not just call him and ask him herself? Or Possibly have George call Bob? Is Linda at fault for anything here? Or is it not a big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/2 "2013-05-09T19:12:38Z")
Does Bob have is phone with him? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/3 "2013-05-09T19:14:33Z")
Was Linda calling Bill solely to ask about Bob, or did she have something else to discuss with Bill as well? ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/4 "2013-05-09T19:25:48Z")
Mountain out of a molehill. Nothing wrong, Linda is just looking for Bob. Maybe she tried his number first and it was busy/out of service, or maybe she just had Bob’s number handy and didn’t want to look up Bill’s number. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/5 "2013-05-09T19:27:21Z")
Yes Bob had his phone; and ultimately told Bill to tell Linda that he was getting on the call right then. As far as I know there was nothing else do discuss with Bill as Linda was on the conference call too; and therefore wouldn’t be calling Bill at that time to discuss anything else. So her only reason to call Bill was to ask about Bob. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/6 "2013-05-09T19:27:52Z")
Who cares? She guessed they were out at lunch together, they were, Bob found out about the call. Is there more to this? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/7 "2013-05-09T19:50:09Z")
Bill is Linda’s underling. Bob is not. So it makes some sense for Linda to communicate through Bill. Maybe she didn’t want to call George or Bob because she was being efficient with her time. She figured Bob would be with Bill or Bill would be able to flag down Bob. Either way going through Bill would be the best way to get the conference call underway. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/8 "2013-05-09T20:15:10Z")
I teach my students to evaluate personal problems using a scale: “Is it something you can ignore?” I say, holding my hand Smurf-high. “Is it something you need to talk to the person about?” I say, holding my hand Kid-high. “Is it something you need a teacher to help you with?” I say, holding my hand Me-high. This is definitely Smurf-high. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/9 "2013-05-09T20:25:32Z")
Oh, I know it’s not that big of a deal in the big picture (smurf high); but on the other hand I see it as a way of announcing Bob’s error in missing the conference call. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/10 "2013-05-09T20:30:40Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Oh, I know it’s not that big of a deal in the big picture (smurf high); but on the other hand I see it as a way of announcing Bob’s error in missing the conference call. Mayyybe. Or maybe something else was going on (couldn’t find Bob’s number immediately, remembered Bill and Bob were outat lunch and dialed quickly not really thinking, had tried Bob’s number and not gotten a response, didn’t know Bob well enough to feel comfortable calling him, figured if she talked to Bill she could keep Bob from getting in trouble with his boss George, etc.). If she was trying to shame Bob, sure, that’s bad, but even then it’s only a little bad. Certainly she would have been following protocol to ask Bob’s boss to handle it, and that would have been a lot worse for Bob. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-was-this-wrong-thread/657918/11 "2013-05-09T20:37:39Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Oh, I know it’s not that big of a deal in the big picture (smurf high); but on the other hand I see it as a way of announcing Bob’s error in missing the conference call. And if she was doing this then what’s the problem? Bob did something wrong and now is getting called on it. Maybe she hopes Bill will start looking after Bob so he doesn’t miss calls. Maybe Bob needs a thicker skin if he thinks this is a big deal. Or he needs to stop missing calls.