Fortress of Solitude: Breached
OK. You guys know I don’t really like to talk about my job on the blog – but I have to tell you one thing – that has less to do with my job than the fact that it happened to me while I was in the office – and happened because of people I work with…
Months ago, the owner of my company asked where the office manager was. I had just been to the other side of the building. She was neither there nor at her desk. I suggested she might be in the ladies’ room. “Well – go check. Is the light on in there?” I told him I refused to follow her into the bathroom. In fact, my immediate boss and I laughed about that exchange fairly frequently.
About a week or so ago, I attended a conference with my immediate boss. We took a bus to New York City. When we arrived at Port Authority, I told her I had to use the restroom. “You can wait! I've been in Port Authority bathrooms and they're not pretty!” she said. Incredulous, I muttered, “Ok, MOM.” Off to the conference… I kept thinking how odd it was that someone would so forcefully dictate my biological necessity to purge… I also have to note here that I normally get along just fine with my boss… So I blew it off, and eventually got a minute of privacy I needed at the conference center.
Skip to this afternoon:
I was asked to attend a meeting at two. I was on a call with a client until 2:05. When I got off the phone, I stuck my head into the conference room. It was full of my co-workers. “Is this the meeting?” “No,” replied my immediate boss. I had walked into a different co-worker meeting… “I’ll call you when we’re ready for you.”
Fine. I had time to take a needed restroom break. As soon as I sat on the throne, however, my immediate boss almost immediately breached my fortress of solitude -.
“Kelly – are you in here?” “Yes,” I answered, incredulous. She continued, “We’re ready for you now.”
I guess if my employers are going to pay me for 8 hours of work, I should let them fiddle with my potty breaks – but I’m so … um… unnerved by the whole thing, I’m not sure what to think. Is it too much to ask for 3 minutes to take care of business? Do I need WebMD to back me up here - and explain that women can get serious UTI's from "holding it" for too long? Should I limit my bathroom time (which isn’t out of hand) to legally approved breaks – lunch, for example?
I'm honestly not sure - but aside from this post – I’m going to do my best to forget any of this ever happened.
Months ago, the owner of my company asked where the office manager was. I had just been to the other side of the building. She was neither there nor at her desk. I suggested she might be in the ladies’ room. “Well – go check. Is the light on in there?” I told him I refused to follow her into the bathroom. In fact, my immediate boss and I laughed about that exchange fairly frequently.
About a week or so ago, I attended a conference with my immediate boss. We took a bus to New York City. When we arrived at Port Authority, I told her I had to use the restroom. “You can wait! I've been in Port Authority bathrooms and they're not pretty!” she said. Incredulous, I muttered, “Ok, MOM.” Off to the conference… I kept thinking how odd it was that someone would so forcefully dictate my biological necessity to purge… I also have to note here that I normally get along just fine with my boss… So I blew it off, and eventually got a minute of privacy I needed at the conference center.
Skip to this afternoon:
I was asked to attend a meeting at two. I was on a call with a client until 2:05. When I got off the phone, I stuck my head into the conference room. It was full of my co-workers. “Is this the meeting?” “No,” replied my immediate boss. I had walked into a different co-worker meeting… “I’ll call you when we’re ready for you.”
Fine. I had time to take a needed restroom break. As soon as I sat on the throne, however, my immediate boss almost immediately breached my fortress of solitude -.
“Kelly – are you in here?” “Yes,” I answered, incredulous. She continued, “We’re ready for you now.”
I guess if my employers are going to pay me for 8 hours of work, I should let them fiddle with my potty breaks – but I’m so … um… unnerved by the whole thing, I’m not sure what to think. Is it too much to ask for 3 minutes to take care of business? Do I need WebMD to back me up here - and explain that women can get serious UTI's from "holding it" for too long? Should I limit my bathroom time (which isn’t out of hand) to legally approved breaks – lunch, for example?
I'm honestly not sure - but aside from this post – I’m going to do my best to forget any of this ever happened.
posted by Kell @ 5:45 PM
1 Comments:
At 12:57 PM,
Trixie said…
Ok. This is very odd.
I managed a site of 60 people who you could never keep up with...So on occassion if I had been looking for someone for a couple of hours and had left messages and if no one had seen them, I would go into the ladies room and check.
If they were there in line or washing their hands, I made up an excuse like washing my hands, smiled and left without saying a word.
If they were in the stall, I just quietly left.
Once they were in the hall and away from the bathroom's general area, I would casually stop them and ask if they could meet with me in a few minutes.
This only happened when we had emergencies and when the person was MIA for a long long time.
I was always careful not to make it look like I was stalking them.
Now I wonder if I wasn't careful enough ????
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