Apparently, I'm Threatening

So this is something I never really think about because it strikes me as a little preposterous. However, I know how I can be sometimes, and I can kind of see it...kind of. What made me think of my coming off as a threatening presence was when I had to deal with something at Sassy Pants' school, and it was something I wasn't altogether happy about.

I don't want to detail the issue, but it involved my going into the same person a few times trying for their approval over something. I went in a total of four times over the course of a day, while being turned down each time. The final time I went in, the person apparently saw me coming and brought in the principal to sit in. I was turned down once more, and the principal said we were done for the day.

I told the Queen about the whole thing, and especially the end where the principal was called in, and she did note that I have a sort of intensity about me sometimes that some people might find threatening if they don't know me. This is especially intense when I am somewhat angry, but note that my being angry does not translate into shouting or name calling or even grumbled insults. In fact, I remain completely cordial, though I have had occasion to debate the issue (some say argue, but it's more that I state my case and try to debunk their side of it where an argument might come off as a gainsay disagreement as opposed to a civil conversation. i.e. "Yes, it is." "No, it isn't.").

In addition, I'm not exactly a big guy. Genetically, I have very, very broad shoulders (8 inch collarbones), and while I'm not "muscular", I have some decent muscle mass, and I'm not fat. I'm also only 5'9", so picture a average heighted guy with that sort of trapezoidal male figure where it tapers slightly down from shoulder to waist and that's me. I do have a bit of a smart mouth, and I do have a sort of unfortunate tendency to make one feel stupid without half trying (ok, I admit to doing it on purpose sometimes...very subtly. I have talked people into removing their phone batteries while they're talking on them just to see if they would. Some totally did.).

So, I suppose when it comes to being threatening, it is possible that I can come off that way, but I don't intend to. I also did not hear from that person again when we sent just Sassy Pants in to see her one more time the following day (had to work, you know). Perhaps she didn't want to deal with me again. I consider that a victory.

People Are Thick

Sometimes, people get caught up in their own little world, and reply to business emails with their strong words to impress everyone else on the massive email string without realizing that they sound like a complete idiot because they never bothered to read any of the replies to their previous inquiries. They use acronyms like crazy, especially ETA, which in most cases, also makes them sound like an idiot since they clearly have no idea what it actually stands for (Estimated Time of Arrival, just in case you're one of them, but don't want to admit it).

One individual in particular replied to an email string stating that the formatting was incorrect in a couple of fields due to the existence of decimals and commas. That is all he said about it. I didn't know which fields were affected or what sort of output he needed beyond removing those characters. Add to this that the other people were actively running the files anyway, which would mean that once they get them all done, none of them will work since they're formatted incorrectly. To date, no one has so much as noticed this little plot hole.

Anyway, on Mr. Decimal-Comma, I replied to his email string (it was a double reply since I had to address both his issue and the other one where someone was having trouble running one of the files, see plot hole) asking which fields were affected and what sort of output he wanted. Later that day, he replied again asking if the formatting was complete and for an "eta on when that will be complete". Besides the egregious misuse of the acronym, I had to wonder if he even read what I wrote before since that was literally the next reply. You may note that it does not contain the answer to my question of "which fields are affected."

I cut and pasted my previous question noting that the eta is dependent on his answer to my question. (Note the proper usage of the acronym; if you broke that out and read it in full, the statement would still make sense). I just have to wonder how some of these end up in positions of power when they clearly don't read the communication they receive.

Voicemails Are A Waste Of Time

Not all the time, mind you. Sometimes, the best thing to leave is a voicemail for one reason or another, but I'm talking about people who leave voicemails for the sake of leaving a voicemail.

For instance, I was called today by someone who needed me to fix something for them. He talked to someone in our Tier 1 group who IM'd me to say he was calling. I acknowledged said call and said I'll call him back. I knew his name, why he was calling, the ticket he was referencing, and I had his number. If you add that up, you'll find every piece of info anyone could possibly leave in a voicemail other than a convenient time to call back. He insisted on leaving a voicemail, which cost him a minute or so, and cost me a minute or so to retrieve it (as well as the time it took to write this angry blog about it).

His voicemail consisted of no new information.No times. No alternate callback numbers. No other people to contact in case he was out. Nothing. That list I gave above? That's what he left.

I have had people leave me a voicemail only to say they sent me an email. I had already read the email, and didn't need the voicemail. I am not sure that people are aware that it take time to check voicemail. It actually takes longer to check a voicemail than pretty much every other form of message-leaving communication. Text is quick. You can check that in the info bar if you catch it coming in. Emails are quick. Voicemail is slow.

I'm tired of pointless voicemails. Can you tell?