Wiped Out; Blank Stare; No Clue; Lunch? WTF?; Did My Part

I was ready for the big show & tell I prepared to give at the ET staff meeting today, & in walk 2 people not authorized to be in the meeting (untrusted & not part of management). My boss did not throw them out, so I quietly turned off the digital projector and shut down my keynote presentation, and when it came my turn to present, I just mumbled a couple safe comments & let the meeting move on. My colleague, who has been at South Swamp for 6 years, was very demoralized by the experience too, and we just kind of looked at each other & shrugged our shoulders & mumbled "WTF?". The ET meeting is the only chance during the week when we get our boss's attention, and because communication is so poor at South Swamp, we really need his guidance. Oh well...

When the subject was brought up to our boss, he just responded with a blank stare (he has been sick, but hey, come on).

The visiting staff members had no clue that they were not welcome, & that indicates the general level of sensitivity at South Swamp. I heard a rumor that the Admin. Asst. to the Acting Interim Executive Director (who is on vacation) came in drunk on Friday. I missed it because I telework on Fridays. I'm actually glad I didn't see it *:-) Yuck.

My colleague & I were then a little stunned when the boss wanted us all (4 of us) to go out to the ET Group lunch, even though the meeting had been a disaster, & had only lasted for about 20 minutes instead of 2 hours. I said "no, thanks" at first, but then my colleague asked me to go so she wouldn't feel quite so out of place, & I went. We finished eating in about 1/2 the usual time, & our boss finally noticed that something wasn't right! He still didn't have a clue what to do though, so we all dropped it. Just as we were leaving the restaurant, & since I was closest to the boss, I heard him say under his breath that if we were demoralized now, wait until the new female boss Executive Director shows up. Nobody else heard him say that, & he was just kind of muttering, but that would explain his funk, since he was a candidate for that job too, & they haven't announced the winner, & no rumors have been going around, so maybe he has an insider that give him a heads up that he didn't get it. That would explain quite a bit. Sorry mate, if that is the case.

The big grant proposal that I have been working on for a week got sent at a few minutes before the 5 pm deadline today, and I contributed a big chunk of the stuff that was sent, so I did my part! Good for me *:-)