Work Stories: Episode 35: Snakes and Ladders

Previously on Work Stories, I wrote to you guys and gals about a time when a seagull left a giant wad of poop in my hair.  I told you about how quickly I got home, and how I showered a lot.  That’s what last week’s Work Story was.  I’m sure that this week won’t live up to the excitement that was last week.  Don’t anybody get their hopes up.  This week will likely be a letdown.

There are two different parts to this week’s Work Story.  There is no need to worry about that.  Both parts will be in the single post.  All I mean by two parts is that there are two portions to the story that rely upon each other.  The story needs both parts in order to be whole.  One will not be as good without the other.  So here we go with the first part of the story.

Let me take you back to a few months ago.  I was (and still am) working at a museum in the tourist district of the city.  One thing that I do at work, which most of the other employees don’t do, is change the lightbulbs throughout the museum.  I get on a trusty ladder, dismantle the fixture, pull out the bulb, and put a new one in.  It’s fairly easy.

Most of the bulbs are small little things with two prongs on one end that stick into an outlet in the light fixture.  One of the times when I was removing a lightbulb, a prong broke off and was stuck in the outlet.  Not wanting to get electrocuted, I climbed down from the ladder and called a maintenance worker to come down and get the prong out.

A few minutes later, the maintenance worker arrived and removed the metal prong.  He then proceeded to lecture me about leaving the ladder out for the three minutes or so that it took for him to arrive.  He said something about how it was in the way of the people in the museum.  It wasn’t, but that’s what he said when he was lecturing me.

Cut to about three days later.  I’m working the cash register out front when the same maintenance guy shows up.  He’s here to work on a part of the ceiling outside of the store next door.  He takes a ladder over to where he’s working and begins.  This spot is right in front of one of the entrances to the store.  Yes, that’s an important detail.

A few minutes after he starts, the maintenance guy leaves to go back to the maintenance workshop and get a few things.  The thing is, he leaves the ladder out.  I look at my coworker who knows about the lecture I got the other day.  Our eyes meet and we agree about what to do.  I go out to the ladder, fold it up, and put it away.  Then I go back to the cash register and sit down in my chair.  I wait for the maintenance guy to return.

When he shows up again, he’s furious.  He starts complaining about how I put the ladder away when he was still doing work.  “But you told me the other day that I shouldn’t be leaving ladders out in the open, even if I’m only going to be gone for a few minutes, especially if it is in the way.  It was in the way of the entrance to the store.”  He grabs the ladder and storms back to in front of the store.  I don’t think he said a word to me for about a week after that.

Basically, this week’s Work Story was a tale of me getting even with a maintenance worker.  If he wants to deal shit to someone who doesn’t work for him, he should be able to take it as well.  It’s as simple as that.  I’ll see you next week for another story from my experiences at work.

Until then, don’t leave ladders where they are in the way.