As I type this, two of my colleagues are engaged in a grim and terrible contest of words, snorts, and glares. Only the unavailability of gauntlets & sidearms has prevented it from escalating into a monomachy.
What has brought this on? Glad you asked! Coworker A has gotten into the habit of bringing in her dog for company. In theory she is allowed to do this only if she keeps the beast confined to her office; in practice, she only brings the hound in when the Big Boss is away so that she can get away with letting it roam the halls. Today the BB is away, so naturally her dog was wandering about. (Or so I gather: I close my door when I see her dog as a result of a pizza stealing incident a few weeks back.) Anyway, the dog has wandered off; it’s not in the building and has possibly left the grounds. Coworker B apparently saw the dog heading through the door and did not move to stop it, which A thinks was cruel and a betrayal, something only a heartless hater of animals would do.
Happily the sphere of drama has not yet expanded to include me. More as matters develop.
Well, Benji may go get himself squished, which would solve the problem.
In the alternative, a couple cellphone pics of the dog, preferably on or near Big Boss Desk, a disposable email account, and perhaps some reasonably fresh dog turds for strategic placement would also probably solve the dog problem.
If I worked with coworker A, I just might prop a door open and leave a trail of raw meat for the dog to follow. Whether that’s a door to the outside or the door to Big Boss’s office would depend on my mood.
Skald.…remember, you’re management, and this is a violation of office policy. Given that there was an argument of some level of intensity in the office, Big Boss and/or HR may hear of the incident and/or get involved. Cover your own ass as much as possible, compassionate but firm, respecting the rights of everyone involved, yada yada. Mostly don’t get caught feeding the dog and/or enabling Benji Momma.
Coworker A is off her rocker is she thinks anyone else should watch her dog at work.
OTOH I would love to bring my dog to work!! He would sleep under my desk and come out when people came in, so he could get some head rubbings. I am soo jealous of Coworker A, but also pissed cause she’s ruining it for the rest of us.
If you’re going to bring your dog into the office, you can’t really expect people to look at you as anything other than a self-absorbed individual devoid of any sense of office decorum. Leave your basset hound, ferret, pot-bellied pig and pet moose at home.
Now that I know the dog is unharmed, I’m all about coworker B and coworker A is an idiot. But the dog didn’t deserve injury or death from her stupidity.
Although I teach in a very nice school, if I taught in some of the public schools I’ve read about, I’d be tempted to bring the Rott/pit with me. “Oh, you’re yelling and threatening me, punk teenager? Meet the very large fangs of my protective friend. 50 pounds of I don’t think so.”
Agreed. There are some unusual offices where this might not be completely out of place, but those places are extraordinarily rare. Dogs don’t belong at the office. Co-worker A deserves to lose her pet, the sad thing is the pet does not deserve to be lost.
Once again the nerve of people astounds me - not only bringing her dog into work (insert shocked expression here), but expecting other people to watch out for it? I don’t want anyone’s dogs (or kids) to get hurt, either, but I’m at work to work, not look after someone else’s personal choices.
Dogs don’t belong in the office. A should be taken out and beaten with a rubber hose, phonebook and then tied done on an anthill and smeared in honey.
Co-worker B is an arsehole. You see a dog wandering through (what I presume) is an exterior door and don’t bother to get off your posteria to do anything about it? I agree it’s not her personal responsibility to look after dog, that’s the job of A - having said that though it’s part of (my) expectation of being a “society” that we look out for each other and stop bad things from happening when we can.
However A should be scolded, B should not - B should just reflect and imagine, if the roles were reversed would she like (as opposed to expect) someone to help her stop the dog from escaping? If so, she should have acted, if she can truely say she would not expect that, then good for her
