A few months ago our department offered a trainee position to a medical student. It is a position in which he’ll be at the department for 6 months doing research… That’s 6 months TOO LONG! I am pretty patient and tolerant, even if people are not really my kinda “people”… This guy, na-ah… He’s in his early 20’s and the ONLY person I immediately felt the need to bitchslap the first moment I set eyes on him… He hadn’t even opened his mouth… After he had, bitchslappin’ wasn’t nearly enough… Ever since I just wanna kill him… He makes me loose all sensibility… He’s that kinda guy… Me and the other male student who shares an office with him and is going bananas as well because of him, have decided to call him “The Thing”…
Suffices to say that he’s not loved at the department. In fact, the word “hate” comes to mind regularly in connection with this particular person… He’s arrogant and snotty towards many people while he has no reason to be. For God’s Sake, he just came crawling out of his cabbage!
He’s been on vacation… The Thing… It was heavenly…
Now, our department got a new coffeemachine about 6 months ago. It needs to be cleaned twice a week. On Monday and Thursday at noon, it shuts down and demands to be cleaned and will not operate until someone goes thru the motions. We’re a pretty democratic department so it’s decided that who-ever is at the machine when it goes apeshit, is responsible for getting it back on track… I have posted the extremely easy and clear instructions up on the wall, next to the machine. It’s a matter of pushing some buttons, hauling a cloth thru the machine and putting back the packages of coffee and milk. It’s thát easy, it just takes about 5 minutes… at the móst!
Yesterday, at noon, at the office:
DutchBitch: *sees something resembling The Thing flash by*
TheThing: “Helloooooo. I’m back”
DB: *whisper to self* “OMFG! Please No… It’s back” *gag*
TT: “Ehm… the coffeemachine says “cleaning required” in the display”
DB: “Well, the instructions are posted on the wall nex to the machine. Good luck!”
TT: “But I don’t have to do that, do I? That’s what you are for, aren’t you?”
DB: “Oh really? Does it say Department Slave on my forehead?”
TT: “Uhm, No… but…”
DB: “Well, you know we all pull together to do stuff like that over here at our department, don’t you?”
TT: “Uhm, Yes… but…”
DB: “Just follow the instructions on the wall and you’ll be fine”
TT: “But… that will take ages!”
DB: “It won’t take ages, it just takes a few minutes. In fact, in the time you’ve spend arguing with me about it, you could’ve finished it”
TT: *inaudible*
Almost 10 minutes go by in which I don’t even hear the sound of a button being pushed or the machine door being opened. I am pretty sure he is not doing anything… I turn to watch him and he’s just standing there… Looking at the wall, sighing…
TT: *walking back to my desk*
DB: “Yes?”
TT: “Well, I can’t make heads nor tails of that stuff posted on the wall… I don’t get it at all”
DB: “Look X. It’s a 10 step description. Each step has ONE sentence in there WITH a picture of what to do. We’ve had the machine for 6 months and I’ve had none of the people here fail at cleaning the machine. Just follow the instructions exactly and it will allllll work out. Trust me: You cán do it”
TT: *grumble* - *walking away to his office*
OMFG! He just made thé worst move he could’ve
DB: “Hello! X! Where are you going?”
TT: “I can’t do it”
DB: “Why? Does your religion prevent you to?”
TT: “Uhm… No”
DB: “Are you in any way physically or mentally challenged to do it?”
TT: “Uhm… No”
DB: “So you just figured you’d just leave the shit for the next person? So you’re kinda sorta socially challenged? Right?”
TT: “Well, I just think it’s a secretaries job. I ám studying Medicine, you know…”
Correction: THIS was the worst move he could make
DB: “Look you snotty bugger. You are 21 years old and acting like a spoiled shit. Everyone here cleans the machine, including people with much higher ranks than you. Do not walk away from it”
TT: *inaudible*
Then he apparently decided that he did understand the stuff posted on the wall and was finished cleaning the machine within 4 minutes… Asshole! Antisocial fucker! I hope he will never be my physician when he grows up… I was THIS close to actually drawing blood… HIS blood…