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Our winner today is the principal of a school. She's been transferred to a newly built school, so we're picking up some furniture from her former school, from a storage site, from the manufacturer, then going to her new school and installing everything. It was very clear right off the bat that this woman was used to her school children who just obey whatever she says, she was not in anyway used to an adult who would say "no" to her.
We ran into a problem right off bat when we got to the first desk because she failed to have the entrance door security intercom disconnected. She assumed we were just lazy and unwilling to take it off the desk, then she assumed that we were liars when we said that the wiring was running through the desk. After actually looking, and failing at trying to jam the 8x6 intercom through the 3 inch hole, she started bitching and whining about her workload and stress and how she's getting everything dumped on her. I tried to calm her down, explaining how I'm not allowed to touch it, however, I do know how to disconnect it and I can walk her through it if she would be willing to do the work. The gist that she took from that was "can but won't", so she got on the phone to try to get somebody out. She started to throw me under the bus during this call, telling the person that "he can disconnect it but he doesn't feel like doing it"; I interupted loudly enough for the person on the line to hear saying "Excuse me?! It's because I am not ALLOWED to touch this device". With a "hmmmmff" she stormed into the other room to finish her call. She came back telling me that she can't get anyone in today, am I sure I can't just move it as is. The device is hard wired through the desk and hard wired into the wall, as can clearly be seen, so obviously the answer is "yes I'm sure". She briefly considers disconnecting it herself, but wants to know what the issue is. I explain how I am not allowed to do it because we don't know if the lines are live and it will fry the device, we don't know if there's a security line that will send a panic message to the police when it's disconnected, since we're not the ones here to work on it, we don't have any information and I can't take the responsibility if anything goes wrong. This puts the fear of god into her so now she won't even consider touching it, instead she orders the school janitor to do it for her. It's clear from here that this woman is someone who abuses her authority and has no regard for the welfare of those that she orders around.
But round 1 is now over and we're off. We get the desk apart and onto the truck and on to the next site. But not so fast, what about the other desk. Umm, what 'other' desk, my workorder says I'm just picking up one desk. This throws her into another tantrum because I dared to question her order, she justs wants me to do as she says. I let her know that it's no big deal, I just have to get it authorized. While I'm on the phone with the shop, I hear her on the phone with someone else and now she's questioning whether or not this second desk is supposed to go. I get my authorization, but thinking of the conversation that I just heard, I try to work with her and go over my plans to see if the second desk is in fact required. Courtesy of the morons in management that I work under, this is an exercise in futility. They've given me four sets of different plans, none of which are marked as the one that is supposed to be used. This woman, my shop and the designer are all unwilling to make a decision, so it's something that I have to figure out on my own. I settle on one set and based on all the parts that I'm supposed to pick up, they match this plan perfectly, nothing else seems to work with what I've got so I make the guess that it's the one we're supposed to use. So I tell the woman "Okay, so based on these plans, we only need the one desk, BUUUUUT, these things change all the time, so if you think the other desk will be needed, we can take it". Well she's had enough of having someone stand up to her and not just follow her commands "No, you said you didn't want to take it so don't bother". I can tell from her attitude here that she knows I'm wrong but just wants to take pleasure in throwing me under the bus later so I make sure that things are crystal clear here: "Okay, I AM willing to take this desk, you are telling me to NOT take it, is that correct?" She grunts a "yes" and I'm not arguing the point further.
Well that was 100 times more difficult than it should have been but things shouldn't be too bad from here. Off to the storage site, how hard can that be? Once again we get off to an awesome start. Seeing as how she's never driven a truck in her life, never moved furniture through a building, has never done my job, she's obviously the one with the best idea for getting the furniture out. She instructs me to drive the truck around to the back of the building and load from there. Okay, that will not work because number 1 the gate there is too small to get my truck through, even if I can make it through, I'll be tearing up the grass next to the walkway because it's a walkway, not a driveway, and I can't make that turn there without hitting the tree. Well I'm completely wrong on all these points, I'm obviously just a bad driver. Okay, arguing these points is futile, so how about we just take a look at where the furniture is located. It's in a room that is literally 30 seconds away from the front door where I'm parked. With a smug attitude, she points at the door next to the furniture and re-states how that is the best way to get it out. Okay, that's great, but as I said, I can't get my truck back there, we can get this out through the front door in under 15 minutes. She's once again shocked and appalled that I'm questioning her brilliance "so you want to walk this stuff through the whole building?!?" Uh yeah, that's kind of what we do every day, it's why we're professional movers. Well that's fine, I can just do whatever I want then. Yeah, thanks for your permission. You would think the fact that we were moved and loaded in under 10 minutes would wipe the smug look off her face and show her that maybe, just maybe, I actually know what I'm doing, but no, she was still steaming that I didn't do things her way.
We hit our last pickup, then it's off to the final destination to deliver and install. Once I arrive, I quickly realize that the plans that I thought were the correct ones are in fact wrong, and I should have been using different ones. (This is a constant problem courtesy of my morons in management but typically it doesn't create any problems). However, in this case the new plans have a whole new layout that requires a desk that I don't have, specifically, the second one at the first school. This woman is overcome with her happy smugness:
SC: I told you that desk was supposed to come here.
Me: No you didn't, you told me you thought it was but you weren't sure. When I offered to bring it you specifically told me not to.
SC: Well that's not what I said, but that doesn't matter, that's the desk for my office, you need to go back and get it.
Me: That is what you said, and I'm sorry, I don't have the time to go back, we'll have to get a new call scheduled to take care of that.
SC: But it's for my office, what am I supposed to use?!?
Me: Well I'm sorry, I have another call scheduled, I do not have the time to go back today.
This argument went on until she realized I wasn't budging so she went off to try to take care of the problem. Her apparent solution was to bitch and whine to the project manager who comes over to harrass me:
PM: Yes, I'm the project manager. I understand that you don't have the desk for her office, is there any way you can get it today? By the way, I'm the project manager.
now, my mood from dealing with this bitch, plus this asshat's whole 'kiss my ass because I'm the PM' attitude just forced me to rebound this attitude right back in his face
Me: Oh, you're the project manager? So you're the one responsible for this mistake then?
SC: Geez, you see?!? This is the attitude I've had to put up with all day!
Me: Excuse me? Attitude? I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be clear on what's being asked of me here.
PM: Oh well, you know, she really needs her desk, haha, can't work without it, can you take care of this today?
Me: No, I'm sorry. I've got another call after this that can't be broken and there simply isn't enough time to make a return trip to the other school.
SC: You should have taken it when you were there!
Me: Well, I was completely willing to do so and made the offer, but you specifically told me not to take it.
A bit more arguing ensued and they finally conceded that maybe she can use any one of the three vacant desks that I do have and am installing for the two or three days it will take to get hers in.
Well that was a lot of fun, but now that it's taken care of and all I've got to do is build the rest to the plans that I now know I'm using. There was a bit more trivial arguing over placement and layout but that was nothing compared to the bullshit I had already had to endure. Then we get to the final stage: a bank of three cabinets going across the entrance. Well this won't do at all, they've got small children coming in and the office staff won't be able to see them because of the cabinets. Okay, I fully agree with you here. This is something that should have been taken up with the designer, but whatever, how would you like it to be reconfigured. Well they have to have the cabinets there to give a separation from the reception area and the office area, but they can't have them there because of how they block vision. Okay, so it has to be there, and, at the same time, it can't be there... back to my original question: What the fuck do you want me to do?!? She has no idea. So I ask what's more important, the vision or the separation. She decides that the vision is a safety issue, so it take precedence. I come up with a layout and get the cabinets placed, then move them literally by quarter inches until she is completely happy with where they are. Oh, did I say completely happy? Wrong. Now the separation is the important issue, so we've got to put them back in their original location as the plan specifies. Frustrating, but it comes with the territory so that's taken care of. All that's left is to get the common top surface put across the bank of three cabinets, but before I can go and do that, they've got to clean the tops of the cabinets:
Me: No please don't clean them, I'll dust them off.
SC: It will just take a second.
Me: No, that's not my point, please don't because....
SC: See, I told you, it only took a second.
Me: Well as I was trying to tell you, you've just put spray wax on the cabinets, now I can't put the common top on.
SC: What's the problem?
Me: This gets taped on. The tape will not stick to the cabinets now that you've waxed them (illustrating my point)
She barely acknowledged that she did something wrong here. I just made due and did the best I could, it kind of got secured. The last step I've got is levelling the cabinets. At this point I realize that the lock mechanisms are all broken; only one drawer will open on each of the cabinets. I point this out and she proceeds to try to rip the drawers off their hinges. I calmly point out that this is the kind of thing that breaks the mechanisms, but once again, I don't know what I'm talking about. So I get to work to see if I can fix things, only to quickly find out that the mechanisms are completely trashed, the levers that control everything are broken right off. She wants to lay the blame on me, saying that it must have been my handling that broke them. I point out how the broken mechanisms are actually taped to the sides, so obviously it was a pre-existing problem but I'm still wrong. Whatever, I snap a few pictures of the evidence and say my goodbyes.
We ran into a problem right off bat when we got to the first desk because she failed to have the entrance door security intercom disconnected. She assumed we were just lazy and unwilling to take it off the desk, then she assumed that we were liars when we said that the wiring was running through the desk. After actually looking, and failing at trying to jam the 8x6 intercom through the 3 inch hole, she started bitching and whining about her workload and stress and how she's getting everything dumped on her. I tried to calm her down, explaining how I'm not allowed to touch it, however, I do know how to disconnect it and I can walk her through it if she would be willing to do the work. The gist that she took from that was "can but won't", so she got on the phone to try to get somebody out. She started to throw me under the bus during this call, telling the person that "he can disconnect it but he doesn't feel like doing it"; I interupted loudly enough for the person on the line to hear saying "Excuse me?! It's because I am not ALLOWED to touch this device". With a "hmmmmff" she stormed into the other room to finish her call. She came back telling me that she can't get anyone in today, am I sure I can't just move it as is. The device is hard wired through the desk and hard wired into the wall, as can clearly be seen, so obviously the answer is "yes I'm sure". She briefly considers disconnecting it herself, but wants to know what the issue is. I explain how I am not allowed to do it because we don't know if the lines are live and it will fry the device, we don't know if there's a security line that will send a panic message to the police when it's disconnected, since we're not the ones here to work on it, we don't have any information and I can't take the responsibility if anything goes wrong. This puts the fear of god into her so now she won't even consider touching it, instead she orders the school janitor to do it for her. It's clear from here that this woman is someone who abuses her authority and has no regard for the welfare of those that she orders around.
But round 1 is now over and we're off. We get the desk apart and onto the truck and on to the next site. But not so fast, what about the other desk. Umm, what 'other' desk, my workorder says I'm just picking up one desk. This throws her into another tantrum because I dared to question her order, she justs wants me to do as she says. I let her know that it's no big deal, I just have to get it authorized. While I'm on the phone with the shop, I hear her on the phone with someone else and now she's questioning whether or not this second desk is supposed to go. I get my authorization, but thinking of the conversation that I just heard, I try to work with her and go over my plans to see if the second desk is in fact required. Courtesy of the morons in management that I work under, this is an exercise in futility. They've given me four sets of different plans, none of which are marked as the one that is supposed to be used. This woman, my shop and the designer are all unwilling to make a decision, so it's something that I have to figure out on my own. I settle on one set and based on all the parts that I'm supposed to pick up, they match this plan perfectly, nothing else seems to work with what I've got so I make the guess that it's the one we're supposed to use. So I tell the woman "Okay, so based on these plans, we only need the one desk, BUUUUUT, these things change all the time, so if you think the other desk will be needed, we can take it". Well she's had enough of having someone stand up to her and not just follow her commands "No, you said you didn't want to take it so don't bother". I can tell from her attitude here that she knows I'm wrong but just wants to take pleasure in throwing me under the bus later so I make sure that things are crystal clear here: "Okay, I AM willing to take this desk, you are telling me to NOT take it, is that correct?" She grunts a "yes" and I'm not arguing the point further.
Well that was 100 times more difficult than it should have been but things shouldn't be too bad from here. Off to the storage site, how hard can that be? Once again we get off to an awesome start. Seeing as how she's never driven a truck in her life, never moved furniture through a building, has never done my job, she's obviously the one with the best idea for getting the furniture out. She instructs me to drive the truck around to the back of the building and load from there. Okay, that will not work because number 1 the gate there is too small to get my truck through, even if I can make it through, I'll be tearing up the grass next to the walkway because it's a walkway, not a driveway, and I can't make that turn there without hitting the tree. Well I'm completely wrong on all these points, I'm obviously just a bad driver. Okay, arguing these points is futile, so how about we just take a look at where the furniture is located. It's in a room that is literally 30 seconds away from the front door where I'm parked. With a smug attitude, she points at the door next to the furniture and re-states how that is the best way to get it out. Okay, that's great, but as I said, I can't get my truck back there, we can get this out through the front door in under 15 minutes. She's once again shocked and appalled that I'm questioning her brilliance "so you want to walk this stuff through the whole building?!?" Uh yeah, that's kind of what we do every day, it's why we're professional movers. Well that's fine, I can just do whatever I want then. Yeah, thanks for your permission. You would think the fact that we were moved and loaded in under 10 minutes would wipe the smug look off her face and show her that maybe, just maybe, I actually know what I'm doing, but no, she was still steaming that I didn't do things her way.
We hit our last pickup, then it's off to the final destination to deliver and install. Once I arrive, I quickly realize that the plans that I thought were the correct ones are in fact wrong, and I should have been using different ones. (This is a constant problem courtesy of my morons in management but typically it doesn't create any problems). However, in this case the new plans have a whole new layout that requires a desk that I don't have, specifically, the second one at the first school. This woman is overcome with her happy smugness:
SC: I told you that desk was supposed to come here.
Me: No you didn't, you told me you thought it was but you weren't sure. When I offered to bring it you specifically told me not to.
SC: Well that's not what I said, but that doesn't matter, that's the desk for my office, you need to go back and get it.
Me: That is what you said, and I'm sorry, I don't have the time to go back, we'll have to get a new call scheduled to take care of that.
SC: But it's for my office, what am I supposed to use?!?
Me: Well I'm sorry, I have another call scheduled, I do not have the time to go back today.
This argument went on until she realized I wasn't budging so she went off to try to take care of the problem. Her apparent solution was to bitch and whine to the project manager who comes over to harrass me:
PM: Yes, I'm the project manager. I understand that you don't have the desk for her office, is there any way you can get it today? By the way, I'm the project manager.
now, my mood from dealing with this bitch, plus this asshat's whole 'kiss my ass because I'm the PM' attitude just forced me to rebound this attitude right back in his face
Me: Oh, you're the project manager? So you're the one responsible for this mistake then?
SC: Geez, you see?!? This is the attitude I've had to put up with all day!
Me: Excuse me? Attitude? I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be clear on what's being asked of me here.
PM: Oh well, you know, she really needs her desk, haha, can't work without it, can you take care of this today?
Me: No, I'm sorry. I've got another call after this that can't be broken and there simply isn't enough time to make a return trip to the other school.
SC: You should have taken it when you were there!
Me: Well, I was completely willing to do so and made the offer, but you specifically told me not to take it.
A bit more arguing ensued and they finally conceded that maybe she can use any one of the three vacant desks that I do have and am installing for the two or three days it will take to get hers in.
Well that was a lot of fun, but now that it's taken care of and all I've got to do is build the rest to the plans that I now know I'm using. There was a bit more trivial arguing over placement and layout but that was nothing compared to the bullshit I had already had to endure. Then we get to the final stage: a bank of three cabinets going across the entrance. Well this won't do at all, they've got small children coming in and the office staff won't be able to see them because of the cabinets. Okay, I fully agree with you here. This is something that should have been taken up with the designer, but whatever, how would you like it to be reconfigured. Well they have to have the cabinets there to give a separation from the reception area and the office area, but they can't have them there because of how they block vision. Okay, so it has to be there, and, at the same time, it can't be there... back to my original question: What the fuck do you want me to do?!? She has no idea. So I ask what's more important, the vision or the separation. She decides that the vision is a safety issue, so it take precedence. I come up with a layout and get the cabinets placed, then move them literally by quarter inches until she is completely happy with where they are. Oh, did I say completely happy? Wrong. Now the separation is the important issue, so we've got to put them back in their original location as the plan specifies. Frustrating, but it comes with the territory so that's taken care of. All that's left is to get the common top surface put across the bank of three cabinets, but before I can go and do that, they've got to clean the tops of the cabinets:
Me: No please don't clean them, I'll dust them off.
SC: It will just take a second.
Me: No, that's not my point, please don't because....
SC: See, I told you, it only took a second.
Me: Well as I was trying to tell you, you've just put spray wax on the cabinets, now I can't put the common top on.
SC: What's the problem?
Me: This gets taped on. The tape will not stick to the cabinets now that you've waxed them (illustrating my point)
She barely acknowledged that she did something wrong here. I just made due and did the best I could, it kind of got secured. The last step I've got is levelling the cabinets. At this point I realize that the lock mechanisms are all broken; only one drawer will open on each of the cabinets. I point this out and she proceeds to try to rip the drawers off their hinges. I calmly point out that this is the kind of thing that breaks the mechanisms, but once again, I don't know what I'm talking about. So I get to work to see if I can fix things, only to quickly find out that the mechanisms are completely trashed, the levers that control everything are broken right off. She wants to lay the blame on me, saying that it must have been my handling that broke them. I point out how the broken mechanisms are actually taped to the sides, so obviously it was a pre-existing problem but I'm still wrong. Whatever, I snap a few pictures of the evidence and say my goodbyes.
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