Day Three of Chaos.
This morning it was magnified by two events:
1) Staff meeting at 8:30 a.m.
2) Mr. BIL losing a client’s file.
I made it to the staffing meeting on time (well, is it “on time” in a company where everyone else showed up at 8:25 a.m.?). Proceeded to stand in one place for one hour while various issues were discussed (there were no more seats left by the time I got there). Miracle of miracles – I was NOT the last to arrive, which was a blessed relief.
When the meeting ended around 9:30 a.m., I was informed that a client was coming by to pick up some documents they had left with Mr. BIL about four weeks ago. He had never had the time to review them, and they decided to get them back.
Mr. BIL: I need the Henderson* file. (*name not real)
Jaynee: Where did you have it last?
MB: I have no idea.
Jaynee: What does it look like?
MB: No idea.
Okay. I scoured my cubicle, looking for anything resembling a Henderson document. Didn’t find a thing. So I tossed Mr. BIL’s office – nothing. Asked his paralegal about it – she didn’t know anything about it and didn’t have anything. Thirty minutes into it, I approached Mr. BIL about it again. By now he was sitting in his office, laughing it up with a younger attorney. As I literally crawled on the floor around the stacks of folders on his floor looking for this Henderson document. By now the paralegal was pissed, because the client was due to arrive at our offices any minute.
Jaynee: Are you SURE it’s Henderson?
MB: Pretty sure. But it could be Hendersen – with an ‘e’.
I continued looking to no avail. After a full 85 minute search I gave up. Moments later, the client arrived. Mr. BIL goes downstairs to eat some crow. Comes back two minutes later.
MB: It’s not Henderson. It’s Smith*. (*name not real)
Jaynee: …..
I get on my computer, look up Smith, get the client number and voila – it’s IN MY CUBICLE ON MY BACK SHELF. I literally turned from my computer and plucked it from the shelf and handed it to him while he laughed uproariously about it.
So basically, because he had the name wrong, I spent almost an hour and a half looking for A FILE THAT DIDN’T EXIST because we don’t have a Henderson file. Whereas if he had remembered it was Smith from the beginning, I wouldn’t have had to crawl around his office for over an hour.
Needless to say I was a bit ticked off this morning.