Hi Friends!
"BACK IN THE DAY" © stevenn beck
A "retro" Halloween story…
I always said that becoming a parent helped prepare me to manage an office. And - by the same token - managing my office for almost 18 years helped to prepare me years later to deal with (sometimes) selfish and/or unrealistic or inappropriate teenage behavior.
Standing on line today in Starbucks reminded me of all of this. School had just let out for the day (note to myself: do not - repeat - DO NOT - go to Starbucks at 3pm during the week). The place was full of excited, screaming kids - most dressed in assorted Halloween costumes. (How these kids could afford the pricey, large, exotic Starbuck drinks is another story.) I noticed the staff was ALSO dressed in costume. That was fine too, a nice touch that contributed to a festive atmosphere as people chatted, drank their drinks of choice and relaxed to the "light" music playing over the sound system. Then I remembered: Halloween 1993, my very first Halloween as the office manager.
The Agency I worked for helped the poor, disabled and elderly (as well as assisting the survivors who had lost loved ones.) That morning I arrived at work to find a very crowded reception area - and two employees working behind the reception desk wearing Halloween masks. (One was The Devil as I recall - the other The Wicked Witch.) I felt blindsided…neither employee had discussed this with me ahead of time. Walking through the reception area to my office, I asked my subordinate supervisor what the hell was going on. Had the employees asked for permission? And why hadn't anyone obtained MY approval? She looked at me in surprise. Prior management hadn't had a problem with this. Well I had a problem - I asked to speak to the two employees.
The employees - plus the supervisor - came in and took their seats. I explained my position, that I did not feel it was appropriate or professional to greet people who were coming to the office for help wearing Halloween masks. Our Agency dealt with serious issues. Customers who were suffering (whether it be from poverty, a debilitating disease or the loss of someone they cared for) should not be greeted by The Devil or The Wicked Witch. (And BTW - I feel more strongly about this all these years later.) I also pointed out that as manager of the office I was the person charged with the responsibility to run the office and that the employees needed to discuss these types of things with me first. It was the professional - and courteous - thing to do. That if any customers reacted negatively I would be the person who would have to answer them. And if a customer explained to upper management, I would be the person on the "hot seat".
Reasonable, right? And could they please remove their masks? (Pretty please?)
Wait - despite my unhappiness - and my polite request - the employees were absolutely livid. I was being "unreasonable" they said. I was on a "power trip". (Power trip?) Moving on, they went so far as to say it was "none of my business", that they had the right to "dress as they chose".
Already coming perilously close to insubordination, the employees then tried to "negotiate" with me. Could they perhaps check with the people in reception to determine if there were any objections? Uhhh- excuse me - hadn't I said I wanted the masks removed? And wasn't I being a nice, kind, sensitive manager by not reporting their behavior to my own superior?
I repeated my request. The employees wanted no part of any discussion. They wanted….what they wanted. And - if I couldn't give it to them…so they responded by claiming that they were ill, signing for sick leave, and leaving for the day - abandoning the office and leaving it short-handed with a reception full of people who needed their help…
Not going to get into what happened next. But I do want to thank them for the memories and for the preparation to deal with my own teenager - and to say to everyone….
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :-)
Bye for now, be safe!
Stevenn
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