Miss Information

Miss Information becomes annoyed and has a big stupid meltdown

Miss Information's work schedule was all messed up this week. She had to work the early shift way too much. This means she's missed out on her very important lying-in-bed-with-the-cat-wishing-it-weren't-morning time which she does on her late days. So, she's out of sorts and cranky to begin with.

Miss Information's birthday is coming up. She hates her birthday. Not so much the getting older bit (which, as Woody Allen says, is better than the alternative), but the people-making-a-big-fuss-over-her nonsense. After all she hasn't done anything but not die and that hardly seems enough reason for a party.

Anyway, she usually takes her birthday off work. Once she didn't and her co-workers threw her a big cringe-inducing surprise party. It was incredibly thoughtful and sweet and Miss Information never ever wants this to happen again. Besides, one of her friends made plans for the evening and asked Miss Information to request the day off. She did. No one ever got back to her about it. Yesterday she went to check the schedule. No day off. What's more, somebody else in her department had gotten the day off, leaving the reference desk understaffed--all indicating that Miss Information's day off was, well, off.

Then she got very mad. Not because of the non-existant day off, but because no one had told her that her request had been denied. She was so angry, she forgot her rule about being angry at work--repress rage, survive until shift ends, drive home alternately crying and composing vicious e-mail that she will send the second she gets home letting the head of the library board know exactly what is going on in this stinking hellhole, arrive home, stroke cat, drink tea, get over anger, never send e-mail. It's a system that works and what's more, has saved her career on a number of occasions. Well, yesterday she forgot that repressing rage part. She went on a hunt for the person who was responsible. She found this person in the staff room--along with the co-worker who did get the day off. Miss Information was calm and reasonable. She did not yell. She pointed out that it didn't matter that her request was denied. Honestly, nothing in her life works out, why would that? But it really, seriously irritated her that no one had thought to tell her officially. Ok, so maybe her voice was a tiny bit raised and a wee bit higher pitched than usual. After all, she was in a bad mood to begin with, how much can one woman take?

So everyone present, and that would include the guy in charge who walked in while she was venting, now thinks Miss Information is dangerously high strung and unbalanced--which may be true, in fact, but she has quite nicely suppressed this up to now. There was a lot of "there, there-ing" and figurative head patting. The other co-worker offered to give her day off to Miss Information, who didn't want that, exactly--she isn't interested in destroying anyone else's life, after all. And everyone went about trying to make things work out so Miss Information could have the day off--which wasn't the point she was trying to make.

One good thing may come out of this--now that everyone is terrified of her alarming mood swings, Miss Information is pretty sure her vacation will be approved.

posted by Miss Information @ 11:19 AM