Mean People Suck

If you want something from someone, it’s so much easier to get it when you ask nicely.

Yesterday, a person I work with – who we’ll call Joey B. – went out of his way to be mean and power trippy over the smallest thing.

Joey B. needed web stats to give to his boss, our CEO. Instead of Joey B. looking them up himself like every other competent person we work with, he always asks me to do it for him. Fine, it takes all of 4 minutes and that’s fine.

Well, yesterday Joey B. decided that he wanted to receive the information in a new combined format with a fancy Excel chart. I have about a million other things to do that are actually important and my work – not someone else’s – and I’m not an Excel chart whiz, so I put all of the data in the spreadsheet (per usual) and NICELY explained that I didn’t know how to make that chart, but here’s all the data, if you make it, I can update it next month and so on.

Joey B. proceeded to email and call me yelling at me like I was a worthless human being. He then went on to nastily yell that I need to also put the information in a powerpoint slide for him so he can add it to his presentation. Um, ok…I don’t work for you, so no I don’t think I should be doing your job for you.

I told him I’d figure out how to make the cart (not part of my job – you want information about stats, that’s one thing – what you do with them is not my concern) and hung up b/c he was being so rude. I actually pretty easily figured out how to make the stupid chart, plopped it onto one of his slides and sent it off. I purposefully left off the title he asked me to include…just b/c he was so mean, and I wanted to see if he’d yell at me for that. He did. I got another angry email stating that I didn’t include the title and to please add it.

I don’t know where people get off. This guy has no right to a) tell me what to do or b) yell at me. For anything. I’m not his – or anyone else’s – assistant/bitch. It’s not my job to do his job.

Yet, the thing is, had he asked me nicely to put the information into a slide to help him out and acted like a decent person when I said I didn’t know how to make the complex chart, I’d happily have done it all for him.

Being nice will get you so much further in life. Being mean about stupid things is just well, stupid.