Where to start? First, my office is in a temp space right now while our real office gets renovated. For this reason, the secretaries are holed up in nice offices while I got the secretarial bay. It is so annoying! Let me just say that my desk couldnt be in a worse space, in the middle of the freaking office, forcing me to hide my Pop windows and smile at every passerby. Not to mention people think the office supplies on my desk are up for grabs. My only pen and stapler were stolen last week and people keep using my tape and leaving it on the other side of the desk. It sounds like its not a big deal, but it is, because its MY desk. But I wont get sidetracked...

So the holiday party was today and after I got some food and mingled with the few friendly people in this crap hole, I went back to my desk to eat my wings and watch the phones (my wonderful fake job, its insulting really, because I have a degree damnit).

And there were no joke, four people hovered around my desk eating when I returned. No no, they were PARKED there. They busted out with chairs and everything. See, my desk really is massive and I suppose they wanted to eat at a table so naturally, they selected my desk as the watering hole. I squeezed past them and am like oh excuse me, and theyre like, oh yeah its your desk? So Im like, yes. Hello. This is my stuff here, oh wait, half of the things I own have been stolen! So luckily no one was sitting in MY chair, I wouldve killed the b*tches. All up in my grill. Eating food. Messily. Everywhere. Im like, omg, being a 'secretary' sucks. This is wrong. This is crazy. Dont you people have your own offices/desks to work at/eat at? Anyways, so I return to my desk and am surrounded by 4-5 people who are eating off small plates on my desk. Its wings, man! I dont like eating wings in public, but Im starving, so I must. And as if its not bad enough that IM in the epicenter of the entire office with people walking by, and even more so now than ever because the desserts are stationed down the hall, but now these people are staring at me. And Im in the center of them because the desk is in a C shape and they are like behind me and in front of me. Damn them. So they are all carrying on because they know each other and Im just sitting there because you cant really do work and eat at the same time, especially with messy wings, where you cant touch the keyboard anyways. So I just have to sit there as they talk over me. And then one girl is like, what is that herbal stuff? I need the name. What herbal stuff? Oh the one that increases your libido. Yeah i need that. Oh yeah me too. Im like UH HELLO, awkward. Get away from me you weirdos. Way to invade my personal bubble with your plates of food, now you have to talk about herbal sex remedies? Please. Could this job get any more odd? And then this lady who I hate spills her plate of food everywhere. Im like OMG. Potato chips everywhere. She didnt even say sorry! She better thank her black baby jesus I didnt have a knife on me, because I wouldve stabbed the ho. So yeah I had to sit here with these people around me. So I just dealed with this, all the while knowing that every crumb was driving me crazy because Im a clean person. So once they left, I wasted no time in cleaning up my desk once the other secretary appeared (hours later, i had to pee pretty bad), and people just left their napkins, half drank drinks, half eaten candy canes and crap all over my desk. First you invade my space, park your butt in my only area of semi-privacy, you make a mess, and then leave your trash. I was PISSED.

Just had to share...

ah hahahahaha

That was hilarious. Not hilarious that it happened to you, but your writing is a trip. When I did my internship, my desk was right out in the open, and yes, it inevitably became the congregational trough for everything - office supplies, gossip, antecdotes and antidotes, and lunch.

That really was so funny...but I'm sorry everyone upset you so badly.

wow, your co-workers suck.
my only complaint is that the women in the office are expected to put up the tree and decorate it...but I suppose the men just wouldn't care if we didn't have a tree, so that's why we got stuck with the job...

*that's a nice purple dress, very purple-y!* ~Elf

OOOOO crispet, I'm so upset for you, JERKS!!!!!For a moment there you reminded me of that poor guy in Office Space, who kept on getting taken advantage of LOL.. Why do people feel the need to migrate to your desk? Maybe it's cause your just a cool chick. Maybe it's cause it really is the centerpiece for the office area. But I'd seriously ask that people not eat at your desk and that they use the kitchen area (if you even have one).

Man, crispet, that really sucks! I have no terrible holiday stories. OH WAIT. Of course I do.

At the last paper I sold ads for, we got a new GM. She gave us CERTIFICATES that the Graphic Designers printed out for Christmas. Now, I had been there for 3 years and I KNEW that the GM gets a budget to buy nice, small gifts. The year before we all got giftcards to various restaurants so while we were out selling, we could always have a free lunch. Hmmm. Where did all that extra money go?
Then, at the party---which was covered dish---our newest sales guy told sex stories the whole time. About transvestites and crossdressers. About how his girlfriend stripped for him and he stuck dollar bills in her...hmm...you get the idea. The guy had been there less than a week and I have to hear about this? While I'm eating? Jeez.

Needless to say I was gone VERY soon after this.

I hope you can find a better job soon. What is your degree in?

YUCK la_clique that guy was a little too vocal on his personal sexual experiences, ewww. So glad you're not there anymore.

Wow, Crispy. That REALLY sucks. I used to love my office Christmas parties. I even begged to get the job planning them. I'm a nerd. Ours were never *at* the office, though. That's lame.

crispet, I think we must have worked at the same place. lol I'm a complete neat freak too. I wouldn't even be able to eat watching all those crumbs all over my desk argggg !!! I would be cleaning, as they were eating. Also, I like to eat my wings in private, too. Oh, I used to hate when, people took stuff off my desk...tape dispenser, stapler, pens, etc...I would hunt them all down, and get my stuff back Or, before they even thought about walking away with it, I would tell them to put it back. Everything on my desk had a certain place, and was positioned in a certain way...we sound a lot alike. Sorry, you had a cr*ppy office party.

I never minded planning the Christmas party, or putting up decorations but, after a while it gets old. I also hated being the birthday cake girl....every time there was a birthday, I had to go to the store to get the cake, the card (for everyone to sign, plus make sure everyone signed it), and the buy the gift. None of this was in my job description, either. I didn't mind so much if people were appreciative but when I felt, I was being taken advantage of, I did mind. I never said anything about it...just handled it gracefully, like you did today.

You guys have some crazy stories too! I hope I dont sound like I have a huge chip on my shoulder, I dont. Its just a weird situation. I graduated in May with a BS in Biology and am now in graduate school for Public Health. I started working at my current job while still in school, as an 'intern.' I was hoping for a promotion once I got the degree so I could obtain more relevant work experience to complement the grad degree I am working on. Long story short, there were a bunch of internal changes and new bosses came into the picture who didnt really know what to do with me/who I was/who I belonged to personnel-wise. A real mess, let me tell you.

Basically, Im underpaid and have no relevant projects. I am treated as a secretary essentially and am left with their responsibilities because they think they have a free ticket to walk around the building as they please (I guess because I am the bottom of the food chain here). Im just upset that my plan to further my career and experience has backfired, as currently I am viewed as somewhat disposable. But Im trying to take matters into my hands and have set up appointments with my mini-boss and real boss today and tomorrow to discuss giving me real projects to do.

So, thats the background on why I was so pissed about decorating and what not. Its just that no one knows my potential, or hasnt had the time to find out about it. Anyways, those people eating around my desk was just not right. I told my parents about it and they told me to chill out and get over it--that you have to eat somewhere during the holiday party. Point taken. I wouldnt have been so mad if the people were neater and nicer about invading my space. I mean, Ive worked with some of those folks before, and they just are the types to act like they rule the roost. They werent very polite, they were very crude (what with the libido discussion and all), and they were quite messy!

Good for you for being proactive, doll!! That's what it takes most of the time.

Gawd, Proactiv has totally ruined the word proactive for me.

crispet, It's okay to vent here. I hope your meetings with your bosses go well, sweetie!!

Thanks, girls! I love to Pop all day, but I need to think about building the resume for career advancement purposes!

Good luck with your meetings crispy. If they don't appreciate you, find somewhere that will. I did, and am much happier.

Thanks! And I am glad you are happier now.