Hey man, I was just sitting in my cube in the semi-secure ET area, headphones in place, groovin' on XM, munching occasionally on the chocolate torte I had recently microwaved for 34 seconds to reach perfect melt point, sipping my tea, & doing research on brainstorming for a tough all staff session I have coming up. A persistent person appeared in my vision, un-escorted & unannounced, which I ignored for about 1 second, but the person had the requisite perfect clothing ensemble, the very important looking leather-bound full size note pad clutched under her arm, & was projecting that sort of shifting, constantly on the move, "Hey Hey, I'm important & I need you to serve me" sort of motion. I took the headphones off, looked up, &, without actually making eye contact, said "Hi, can I help somehow?". The just-moved-here from the state of Washington VIP said she was looking for the Acting Interim Executive Director. I relaxed, assuming I was going to get off easily, & informed the VIP that the Acting Interim Executive Director was on holiday for 3 weeks & wouldn't be back for quite a while yet. She didn't miss a beat. She said, without even 1 full second's hesitation, that she wanted to meet whoever was in charge because she is the new (as of yesterday) AVP of the organization that South Swamp reports to (she didn't say "South Swamp") & was making her rounds of the off-campus groups that make up areas of her responsibility. I rose from my chair to my most professional height & bearing (less height & a little more "bearing" than when I was younger), & escorted her, using my British "My Good Man" mode, to the fellow who has been left in charge, whose office door was closed. I asked her to wait, knocked on the door, & when it opened, explained the situation. He said he was too busy right then because he was expecting a call from the Super Big Biggie any minute. I whispered that this is a new AVP & she is just a few feet away so maybe he better make a little time. He did, she went in, they chatted, and then...then...yes dammit...then when they came out he asked me to give her a full tour & to introduce her to everybody. Fuck. Anyway, I continued as the British "My Good Man" & gave her the best service I could, & I heard her mention to one of the Directors she talked to that she liked the way I handled her. Hey, gotta give the young ones a little extra so they keep coming back for more, eh?
My boss, the philosopher & sort of technophile without really being a technophile, is looking for a leaf to use for the icon for the conceptual product he is working on & has been asking me for a lot of help. I was again groovin' on XM with my headphones when my cube neighbor IM'd me that the boss has been yelling for me *:-) Oops. I told my buddy that maybe my boss should start podcasting if he wants to get hold of me *:-) Anyway, I had to go to his office & give him the names of North American Leaves (he is Hispanic and doesn't know the names in English) so he could use Google images to check 'em out. We went through quite a few & he wasn't letting me go so I finally said "Hey, the one I would use if this were mine would be the Ginko". He loves it, & let me go back to my cube *:-)
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