The highlight below is an excerpt from my upcoming book,
Solid Journey Highlights - The Victoria Chronicles
Solid Journey Highlights - The Victoria Chronicles
The book is based on true events from my life.
Highlight Four
Work Place Drama Part Two
Victoria now works in Bowie, Maryland for Let Us Entertain
You, a private sector call center that answers inquiries and provides
information relative to the R & B music industry.
Thin-skinned Mandy Foster
is the president of the small seven employee firm.
Dave Cooper, the vice president, is a stark contrast to
Mandy. His fun loving relaxed
temperament is clearly an asset.
Certainly, Dave helps to offset the frequent unpleasant moods of Mandy.
At the firm, one of the employees is a supervisor; the other
six employees are Customer Service Specialists.
Damon Lang has been the call center floor supervisor for
three years. He’s a skilled, robust
humor driven charismatic presence. He’s
also a serial flirter. Rumor has it that
his wife left him because he propositioned one of her relatives. Now that Damon’s divorced, his flirt meter
has escalated. And he’s not just
flirting.
Yep, Damon has personally embraced an aspect of the company
name, “Let Us Entertain You.” Word is
that he’s bedded at least one of the women under his supervision. In spite of his flirtatious vice, Damon’s very
likeable and deeply engaging. In fact, the
office atmosphere is noticeably altered when he’s not there. Clearly, his infectious presence is more than
slightly missed. In such instances,
employees longingly ask, “Where’s Damon?
When’s Damon coming back?”
Joy Lions prefers to be on vacation leave during the same period
that Damon uses his time. She’s not inclined to be in the office for
extended periods when Damon isn’t there.
Yep, his presence makes that much difference to most of the staff.
Damon assigns Joy to give Victoria a five day training
exercise on how to use the firm’s proprietary telephone/computer system.
On day six, Victoria has her first opportunity to handle
incoming calls. Nervously, she logs on
and hits the ready signal. Cheerfully,
she speaks, “Good morning, Let Us Entertain You, Ms. Jessup, how may I help
you?”
“Good morning, this is Jason Hammer, CEO of Rebel with a
Cause. I need to book a local D.J. for a
club date this September.”
“Sure, sir, I’ll get you a referral number for that. Will you please hold?”
“Will do.”
Victoria gets the number from the system. “Thank you for holding.”
“Sure.”
She gives him the number.
“Is there anything else that I can help you with, Mr. Hammer?”
“No, thank you”
“Would you like to be transferred?”
“Yes, please.”
“Thank you for calling Let Us Entertain You. Please hold for your transfer.”
When Victoria finishes the call, she looks over at Joy, and
audibly exhales. “Phew, I was a bit
nervous on that first call.”
Joy smiles and nods.
“Yeah, I remember when I did my first one. My fear was greater than the
reality. Each time got easier. You’ll see.”
Joy’s assurances succeed in relaxing Victoria.
“Thanks Joy, I needed that.”
“Sure, you’re welcome.”
Victoria gets the next call.
“Good morning, Let Us Entertain You, Ms. Jessup, how may I help you?”
“Good morning, this
is Neal Pettus.” He pauses.
“How may I help you, Mr. Pettus?”
“You don’t know who Neal Pettus is? I’m the actor, Neal Pettus.”
Unimpressed and never one to be star struck, Victoria
doesn’t miss a beat. “How can I help
you, Mr. Neal Pettus, the actor?”
Silence – then the phone receiver is slammed down. Wounded because Victoria didn’t fawn over
him, Neal hung up on her.
Victoria whips her head in Joy’s direction.
Joy glances over, wondering.
Victoria laughs.
“That was the actor, Neal Pettus.”
Joy lights up.
“What?!”
“Yep, he slammed the phone receiver down on me. I guess he got upset because I wasn’t
impressed when he told me, ‘I’m the actor, Neal Pettus.’ Of course, I admire his talent but I’m not
tripping about who he is. Obviously,
that offended him.”
“Oh well.”
“For real,” replies Victoria.
Damon approaches, leans his portly frame against Victoria’s
cubicle, winks and asks, “How’re we doing ladies?”
Joy forms her hand in an OK signal. “We’re good.”
Damon tucks both thumbs in his waistband. “Alrighty, now, that’s what I like to hear. Victoria, you’re a quick study.”
Victoria smiles, “I try, Damon.”
Damon assures her. “You’re
in the plus column, Ms. Jessup.
Joy eagerly nods in agreement.
Damon extends his hand for a high five from Victoria.
She cheerfully obliges. Blushing, she says, “Thanks y’all.”
Damon nods and walks to get a cup of water from the
cooler. He extends the cup and looks
over at the staff. “Ah, cheers to good
ole H2O. He gulps the
contents. Playfully, Damon rubs his pot
belly and then heads back to his office.
They chuckle at Damon’s antics.
Rose, the most low-key of the office bunch, amusingly shakes
her head. “That man is a trip.”
“He sure is,” chimes in mother hen Marie.
Quirky Donald, clad in his sock feet, rolls his chair toward
Victoria. In his haste, he kicks over
his cowboy boots that are stationed under his desk. “Oops.”
He bends his broad back over to situate his boots. He sits upright and addresses Victoria. “Damon is in the lively mix here. That’s for sure.”
Victoria straightens her black gabardine skirt and
smiles. “I see.”
“He’s a smooth operator, too,” Donald adds.
Curious, Victoria leans in.
“What do you mean?”
Donald moves his eyes upward. “Stay tuned.” He rolls back to his desk to take a call.
Seeking, Victoria swiftly turns toward Joy.
Joy peers at Victoria over her gold-framed glasses. “Ahem, I repeat what Donald said, ‘Stay
tuned’”
Victoria opens her mouth to persuade Joy to reveal more
about Damon. Her line rings. She thinks, “Dang” and answers the call.
A woman, obviously intoxicated, slurs, “Is my husband
there?”
“Who is your husband, ma’am?”
“Josh Henderson.”
“This is Let Us Entertain You.”
“No, you can’t entertain me.
That’s what my husband is for. Is
he there?”
“Hold on, please.”
“Huh?!”
“Please hold, ma’am.”
“Joy, do you know a Josh Henderson? This woman asked for her husband, named Josh
Henderson.”
“Never heard of him.
She has the wrong number.”
“Thanks, Joy.”
“Sure.”
“Thank you for holding.”
“I didn’t want to hold on, sugar.”
Victoria hesitates. “Yes
ma’am. Thank you, though, that you did.”
“Look, is my husband there or not?”
“You have the wrong number.
I’m new here; I asked my co-worker and she informed that you have the
wrong number.”
“Say what? The wrong
number?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“What’s the right number?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know the right number for your husband,
ma’am.”
“What number is this, hon?”
“You’ve reached, Let Us Entertain You.”
“If I could find my husband, I’d be entertained.”
Victoria thinks, “She needs to find a cup of coffee.”
“Hello,” the woman yells into the phone.
“I’m here, ma’am.”
“Burp. Yeah and I’m
here without my husband. My judgment is
a bit off. I threw back a couple of
shots. Hiccup – had a date with Jack
Daniels on the rocks. Imma hang up and
dial again. If my husband calls, don’t
tell him I’ve been out with Jack.”
Victoria thinks, “He’s not going to call here but likely
he’ll sure know that you’ve been on a date with someone of the alcohol
persuasion.” She says to the woman, “No,
ma’am, of course I won’t tell him.”
“Thanks, hon.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
Victoria hears fumbling on the line.
The woman disconnects.
Rose asks Victoria, “What was that about?”
“The caller was intoxicated and dialed the wrong number
looking for her husband.”
Rose shakes her head.
“It takes all kinds doesn’t it?”
“Yep, it sure does.”
Snack lover Roy stands and stretches his rail thin
frame. In his desk drawer are stashes of
assorted candies, cookies and chips. He
grabs his leather bomber jacket, stuffs a pack of lemon cookies in the pocket
and announces, “I’m going on break, y’all.”
Cigarette behind his ear, Roy walks by and teasingly swivels Joy’s
chair.
She giggles and slaps at his moving figure. “Stop playing, snack man.”
Roy laughs. “Yep, that’s me.”
As the weeks go on, Victoria excels in the job. She and Joy develop a strong bond because
they have similar personalities.
Joy has the cutest giggle, sharp wit, and a bold persona
that some folks find too “in your face.”
She’s a caring generous person but isn’t inclined to mince words or to
tolerate disrespect or injustice.
Joy’s attributes suit Victoria just fine. They have more than a few in common.
Victoria enjoys hearing Joy’s stories about her Bahamian
heritage. Joy was born on American soil,
the home of her mother; her father was born in the Bahamas.
Joy and Mandy aren’t fond of each other. Mandy doesn’t handle well Joy’s secure
personality. Mandy’s preference is that
Joy submit to her power as president of the firm. Joy’s work ethic is excellent. That isn’t, at all, an issue for Mandy. What she desires and what Joy refuses to give
Mandy is a subservient attitude. That
ain’t happening, and Joy’s refusal causes Mandy to unreasonably react to what
she’ll never get from Joy. Nope, Joy
ain’t feeding Mandy’s or anybody else’s power trips.
Joy is on the line with a caller.
Mandy strides to Joy’s desk, balls up a piece of paper and
drops it in Joy’s lap.
Donald stares angrily at Mandy as he witnesses what she
did. He’s not fond of Mandy either and
that rude action further impacts his ill will towards her.
Joy finishes her call, disconnects from the system, removes
her headset and angrily walks in the direction of Mandy’s office, which is
about twenty feet from Joy’s placement.
Donald, on board with Joy, says, “Handle your business,
Joy.”
Joy steps into Mandy’s office and calmly asks, “May I close
the door?”
Mandy nods. She knows
why Joy is there.
Joy sits in the chair in front of Mandy’s desk. “I don’t appreciate how you rudely tossed
that trash in my lap. We know that my lap isn’t the place for
trash.”
Mandy is surly. “I
was just playing with you, Joy.”
Fire in her eyes, Joy responds, “It wasn’t funny to me. If I’d done that to you, you wouldn’t have
found it funny.”
Mandy refuses to acknowledge that her trashy action was an
insult.
The two exchange a few more words.
Joy tosses her thick long hair, exits and returns to her
assigned seat to continue taking calls.
Mandy comes out of her office and shouts, “How would you
like it if I canceled your leave?”
Surprised at Mandy’s outburst, Joy asks, “Are you talking to
me?”
“No,” Mandy shouts at Joy.
Mandy loudly slams her office door; the vibration resounds
throughout the office.
A few minutes later Damon comes to Joy. “Mandy wants to see you in her office.”
When Joy gets there, Mandy sharply informs, “I’m canceling
your vacation leave.”
A frown surfaces on Joy’s face. “Why are you canceling my leave, Mandy?”
Mandy stacks some papers on her desk. “I’m not pleased with your attitude.”
“You came where I sit and dropped trash in my lap and
because I expressed that I consider that disrespectful, you’re canceling my
leave? Do you really believe that you’re
right to cancel my leave, Mandy?”
Silence. Mandy just
looks at Joy and says nothing.
Joy shoots Mandy an ice stare and walks back to her desk.
A bit later Mandy re-considers. She sends Damon to have Joy to return to her
office.
“I’m restoring your leave with the exception of two
days.” She gives no reason for the
change.
Joy thinks, “This woman is a trip.” She doesn’t bother to ask Mandy why she restored
the leave approval except for two days of leave. Joy thinks, “Likely, to some extent, she came
to her senses and knows that she has no legitimate reason to cancel my
leave. But she cancelled two days
because she didn’t want to surrender in whole, which is what she should have
done since she’s wholly wrong. I won’t
even give her the satisfaction of disputing the matter.”
That episode further eroded their relationship.
Increasingly, Joy’s feisty, confident persona grates on
Mandy’s nerves. More often, she and Joy
clash.
One Monday afternoon, things reach a fever pitch between
them.
Mandy approaches Joy’s cubicle. She snaps, “I need to see you in my office
now.”
Joy’s eyes widen in wonder.
“Okay.”
Swiftly, Mandy turns and heads to her office, Joy close
behind her.
Mandy firmly shuts
the door, removes her houndstooth suit jacket and places it over the back of
her chair. She sits behind her cluttered
desk. Her sleeveless top shows off her
impressively toned arms – evidence that she rarely misses trips to the gym.
Joy lifts a chair, moves it back from Mandy’s desk, places
it down with a thud, and slowly lowers herself into it.
Mandy doesn’t miss Joy’s power play. Her green eyes linger on Joy to signal that
she got her disrespectful drift. Hands in
steeple formation, Mandy sharply speaks, “You’re in here, Joy, because of your
attitude.”
Joy fidgets with the
cuff of her white blouse. “What about
it?”
“It needs immediate improvement.” Expectantly, Mandy leans back in her
wing-backed leather chair. She begins to twist the opal ring on the middle
finger of her right hand.
Joy shifts her body.
“What precisely is your issue with my attitude, Mandy?”
Mandy rakes her hand through her frosted permed hair. “Humility is something that you need to be
acquainted with, Joy. I’m the president
of this firm and you need to conduct yourself with that awareness. At present, that is not the case, Joy, and
you’re in here now because of your arrogant demeanor.”
Joy thinks, “She
needs to get a grip and a good look in the mirror at her own need for attitude
adjustment.” She remarks to Mandy, “I
believe that I’m sufficiently humble, Mandy.
What I also believe is that you’re not sufficiently confident and you
can’t reasonably handle that I am.”
Mandy’s mouth flies open
– she grips the arms of the chair - stunned that Joy would dare address her in
such a manner. Mandy venomously
declares, “You need to remember who signs your pay checks, Joy!”
Joy leans forward; her eyes challenge Mandy. “You’re not the
only one signing pay checks. Folks are
signing checks all over this planet, Mandy.”
Mandy wheels her chair back, jumps up, and walks to where
Joy sits.
Joy stands, glares at Mandy, and shoves her hands in the
pockets of her tweed trousers.
Sternly, Mandy states, “You’re on notice, Joy, that your
continued misconduct won’t be tolerated.
It will surely lead you to the exit.”
Joy thinks, “You just don’t know. I’m in exit mode as you speak.” Joy maintains eye contact with Mandy. She elects not to further respond to Mandy’s
petty tirade.
“Do you understand me, Joy?”
With a hint of a smile, Joy replies, “I’m clear on your
position, Mandy.”
Mandy doesn’t like that response; she lets it go though, and
opens the door for Joy to leave.
Joy pauses for effect and then exits.
Mandy slams the door behind Joy.
At the sound of the door slam, the staff looks in the
direction of the noise.
Joy is smiling as she walks back to her cubicle.
Donald asks, “What’s up with that, Joy?”
“Mandy meltdown,” quips Joy.
Donald chuckles; the two high five.
That meeting between Joy and Mandy marked the beginning of
the end for Joy at Let Us Entertain You. She
went on vacation and days later called in her resignation. Weeks later, she got a job at Universal Airlines
because – as she told Mandy – “Folks are signing pay checks all over this planet.”
Victoria stays in touch with Joy. They enjoy a rich friendship.Copyright 2013
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