Attempting Professionalism, Failing Miserably
April 20, 2007 | Geekly Aspirations
Yesterday I was working from home, [sidebar: Oh, the glory that is working from home! Getting to sleep in through when I would usually be showering and communting, attending meetings in my pajamas, etc] but I had a meeting, so I had to be on a conference call. There were just three of us, me, my boss, and another Important Guy. I was eating my lunch at the same time, so I was using the mute function on my blackberry so that no one could hear any chewing. I would un-mute when I needed to participate.
When you mute, my blackberry makes a cute little beep-BEEP sound, and when you un-mute, it goes BEEP-beep. About half way through the meeting, though, I sort of couldn’t tell whether I was muted or not. The meeting had gone on so long, my screen had shut down and for some reason I couldn’t get it it to wake up. I started interjecting some “okays” and “rights” to try to test whether they could hear me, but that never seemed to illicit any response. I started to panic. I didn’t want them to to think I wasn’t paying attention, so I decided to take a chance. Fifty-fifty, right?
Me: Am I on mute right now?
Boss and Important Guy: …
Boss: Did you just say, “Am I on mute right now?”
Me: Well, I couldn’t tell! I’m sorry.
Boss: You could have at least made a barn yard animal noise, or something. That would have been a lot more entertaining.
Me: Yes, but even less professional.
Important Guy: …
When I shared this with SB, I was laughing like it was funny (it was) but he gave me this look like, I can’t believe you did that. Oh well. Navigating this high tech world is always a challenge, but so far I haven’t cried this week*, so it’s all good.
*She says confidently with half a day to go, foolishly tempting fate.
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April 20th, 2007 at 1:48 pm, JayAre Says:
I really hope you make it without crying! You can do it! Gooooooooo JENNY!
My husband often gives me the “You are a nutjob I can’t believe you’re still employed who do you think you are?” look when I talk about things I have said to my boss(es).
April 21st, 2007 at 9:19 am, Addled Says:
Hmmm…which barnyard animal would Jenny be?
I’m thinking Goode. Can walk, fly, pretty cute, and tastes great with a nice orange sauce.
April 21st, 2007 at 5:56 pm, Rona Says:
Oh my dear Jenny,
I’m so grateful for your blog, because it maes me laugh out loud on an amazingly frequent basis! Thank you!
xo,
R
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:49 pm, Woman with Kids Says:
Ohmygod, “you could have at least made barnyard animal sounds.” That’s hysterical… Hello? Moo? Oink?
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 pm, Jill Says:
I love your ancedotal stories. Tell SB that you’re damn funny and given the responses you elicited from your Boss and Important Guy, you definitely moved up a notch in their humor realm.
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 pm, Jenny Says:
JayAre: I can imagine. Hey, how about another work story on the ol’ blog?
Addled: So I went to dictionary.com and looked up Goode, because I just assumed you are so literary, this must just be a type of barnyard animal I hadn’t heard of. Then I worked it out. HA! I don’t think I would be a goose, though. They are too mean. I think I’d be more like a happy hen, chillin’ and peckin’. Also good with orange sauce.
Rona: Oh thank YOU, my dear friend, for even being interested.
Woman: I know, right? My boss is so funny sometimes. Also, scary.
Jill: Well, I think I just surprised my boss. He laughs at stuff I do all the time, stuff that is so un-Workplace, just because I don’t know any better. Important Guy has no sense of humor whatsoever, as far as I can tell.