The toughest part of working, is pretending you're okay when you're obviously not.
This mess occurred yesterday.
We were shorthanded, and I was acting as liaison between a couple different work groups while their managers sat in meetings and went to lunches. I was stressed out, and having a tough time responding to all the demands on me. I am not a people manager, but know all the apps and most of the processes quite well. Naturally, since the bosses were not present, my coworkers were baying like wolves at my door for advice.
My guts were roiling (it's an actual word) from the tension, and I felt like my stomach acid was gonna eat its way through my poopy bits and pool under my chair.
Anyway, one of the big bosses bellowed at me from down the hall, and stuck his head in my office. “How are you doing today (name)?” he asked.
Taken somewhat aback, I responded, “I'm here.”
His demeanor changed immediately, and his expression turned to a scowl. Then, I shit you not, he literally slapped his leg and said, “I was just checking in with you. Sorry I asked.”
In my 45 years of employment, I have never seen someone so pissed off that they literally slapped their leg. I thought that was something that only occurred in cartoons or comedy shows.
Since then, the various group managers have been scowling at me because of how I responded. Apparently, the only acceptable answer is “Doing great! How are you?”
Well excuse me. I am a human being, and please forgive me for not having sunshine and lemon-flavored rainbows squirting out my b-hole during a stressful moment. To add insult to injury, one of the other managers suggested I apologize to this guy as he can quite capably wreck my career with a couple words to the wrong person.
I grit my teeth, and sent the old dude a chat explaining that my salty attitude was not directed at him, but rather the current circumstances in the work group. He responded reasonably well, but the top guys are still giving me the evil eye since my candid moment.
I am so tired of all this crap, but at least today is a little bit better. I need to buy a new game face, because my current one is just about worn out.