Y'all, please tell me whether I'm crazy for feeling so angry and frustrated and insulted by this… I'm seriously still so mad that I'm contemplating looking for new work.
Background: I work as a paralegal in a mid-size law firm of considerable prestige in my city. I've been here for 5 years, and I've consistently been highly praised for my performance, dedication, and general attitude/contribution to company culture. For about 3 of my 5 years here, I've single handedly carried the workload in my department, as the firm had a hard time hiring, and when they did hire, they brought in people so terrible that I was still the person doing 90+% of the work. All this to say, I'm an asset to this company, and I've stuck around because they (act like they) value me, provide a great work-life balance, and provide decent pay and benefits.
Yesterday, though, I felt so disrespected and un-valued that I seriously didn't want to come in today.
I was taking my lunch break (fairly late, around 2:45) and discovered when I went to clock back in that I had about 10 more minutes to kill before the hour was up. Our break room is a depressing, cold space in the basement with terribly uncomfortable chairs, so I decided to sit in one of the plush chairs in the lobby and knit a few rows. Mind you, no clients were in the building, and I checked to make sure there was no one else coming in on the calendar before going out there. So the only people out there were myself and the receptionist, though our floor plan is open in such a way that everyone on the first two floors can hear what's happening in the lobby of its above a whisper.
The managing partner comes in the front door and asks, “are you knitting??”
Me, not thinking anything of it: “I am. It's calming when the day has been super busy.”
Her, in the same tone you'd use with a child to ask if they're sure they're making a good choice: “in the lobby?”
Me: “yeah? I had a few extra minutes left on my break and didn't want to go all the way back to the basement, so I figured I'd just sit here for a second…”
Her: “in the lobby, though?” (Starts to leave, then loudly declares from halfway up the stairs) “I just don't know if that's the look we want to give off. Staff sitting here knitting in the lobby. If a client sees that they might wonder why we have time to sit and knit but we haven't called them back. Not that you're the one who doesn't call people back, but… you know?”
I packed up my yarn and went to clock back in early (f*ck em, they can pay me overtime, then). Never mind the fact that we don't wear uniforms or name tags, nor are staff on the website, so how the hell would this hypothetical client even know I was staff rather than another client waiting to see someone? And if you have staff who aren't calling people back, isn't THAT the bigger problem to address?
I feel like I'm crazy for still being so pissed off about it. I can't even put my finger on what about it was so upsetting, but man… it still makes me mad to think about it. Am I in the wrong here? Should I just let it go and apologize?