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Taming The Office Grouch

More than once The Boss and I have commented on this guy at work who seems to have no sense of humor.  He’s our liason with the sales department and we are both just a little bit wary of him.  He’s not really a snarly kind of guy, he just sort of grunts and growls.

Yesterday he growled at The Boss’s boss because he thought we weren’t getting something done quickly enough.  Turns out the papers had been completed, they just weren’t signed & delivered.  So it was my job this morning to sign all 347 documents and deliver them to Growly’s desk.  (The Boss doesn’t come in on Thursdays.)

I got to Growly’s desk with my burden and he greeted me with, “Oh my, gawd.  What is that?”  I said, “The Financial Work Requests you asked for.”

He said, “That many?”  I nodded.  He scooted back from his desk, grabbed his coffee cup, and motioned for me to set the stack down.  I did.  I put it exactly where he indicated.  Then I watched in disbelief as his desk top tilted sideways.

His adding machine began to slide, the pencil cup joined it and everything cascaded from there.  I jumped back with both my hands pressed to my face and squeeking, “Oh my gosh!  I’m sorry!  I’m sorry!  I’m sorry!”

Growly managed to catch the stack of documents.  His desk top slammed back into place.  The adding machine bounced twice and spewed out a dozen or so inches of tally paper covered in zeros.  Pencils, pens and paper clips decorated the carpet like confetti, and dust motes spiraled toward the floor.

A moment of stunned silence passed.  People all over the office peeked out of their cubbies to see what had happened.  I looked over at Growly with my hands still pressed to my face and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Still hugging the stack of papers, he leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, took a deep breath –  and burst out laughing. He put the papers down on his file cabinet, wiped tears from his eyes, and thanked me.  I left the sales department in a bit of a daze, but not so much so that I didn’t notice all the grins directed at me by his co-workers.

20 Comments

  1. ROFLMBO!!! Only YOU Quilly! He would ONLY laugh for YOU! That is soooooo funny! Wish I’d been a fly on the wall! (the FAR wall!) (maybe even the ceiling…)

  2. What a hoot! Quilly and Growly, office buddies from this point on.
    BTW, I loved your interpretation of my kitchen dream, I knew there was a hidden meaning someplace in all that madness…of course you would be the one to figure it out. 😉

  3. Oh that is soo priceless. That could only happen to you, I think, and it is hysterical. At least he had the papers in his one hand an the coffee in the other. OMGosh if he hadn’t.

  4. Melli — only I could cause a disaster like that!

    Shelly — we will see if a friendship forms. And who better to interpret island dreams than an island dweller?

    Amber — actually, he put his coffee cup down on the computer monitor, which thankfully was on the L extension to his desk and didn’t move. Oh, and that stack of documents was about 8 inches high. There was no grabbing them with one hand.

  11. Mar — 🙂

    David — gee thanx. I think.

    Mar — yep!

    Jientje — well, if I told the story well enough, you almost did!

    Jill — American Express eat your heart out!

    Juliana — about as sorry as a person embarrassed from head to toes can be. I recovered quickly, though.

  16. Cath — every office needs a Klutz?

    Dr. John — I kind of thought that, too, but you know, my desk is really nice. My chair leaves a lot to be desired, though.

    Betty — I didn’t break the ice, I broke his desk!

    Diesel — how eloquent. Thank you.

  17. My goodness that story was priceless.

    I’m finally catching up with your blog. Love the Ella stories and pictures. I am listing to you and Ryan talk about blogging right now. Great job!

  18. I guess we can call that a “Quilly Moment” from now on. Laughter is the best medicine. Thank you for sharing that hilarious story with us. LAMO

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