Stupid People

A little background information before I start in on them. As some of you know I work in a factory here. It is very old (built in the twenties), huge and has a flat roof. That is where the problem starts. I have seen many summers where we have had entire roofing crews work all summer just patching it. There is so much tar up there, I don't know what keeps the roof from caving in. With any rain, we have leaks through out the plant. Sometimes the word "flood" best describes it. We had heavy rains in town last Friday. Sometime after the office people went home for the weekend and before I came in Sunday night, a ceiling tile in one of the offices became saturated, leaked and finally fell. Unless you have seen what a wet ceiling tile does on impact, you have no idea what a mess it can make. Picture the average workplace desk. Stacks of papers, planners, notes, telephone, calculator,computer, keyboard, pictures, knick knacks and stuffed animals. I know, I don't understand the stuffed animals either, but they are there. Then picture all that stuff plus the desk, floor and walls covered with thousands of pieces of exploded ceiling tile. What a mess. It took me all of 4 hours to clean that one office. I asked my lead hand to contact someone about removing another ceiling tile that was quite saturated so it wouldn't fall the next time it rained. He did, and the carpenter came yesterday and removed it. One more bit of information before I start in on stupid people. It was a woman's office.

When "That Woman" saw her ceiling tiles gone, she called some "Hot Shot" (engineer) in the plant and wanted her ceiling tiles replaced right now!! "Hot Shot" calls the shop foreman . Carpenter is called and does as he is told. "That Woman" is happy her office is all put back together and pretty again. "Hot Shot" pats himself on the back for a job well done and goes back to work.

"That Woman" is a department head. You would think, she would know why one tile was gone and why I wanted another removed. After all, her carpet was soaked and there were waste baskets all over her office collecting rain water. I had laid all of her papers, notes, books and planner all over the hallway to dry. Did she really think replacing those tiles would fix the leaking ceiling? Lord help us all if she did.

And what about "Hot Shot"? An engineer no less. Been in the plant for years. What in heavens name was "Hot Shot" thinking? Or not thinking. He knows that plant as well as any of us. Maybe "Hot Shot" was trying to impress"That Woman". I don't know.

It started raining last night at 9:30. Hard.... I didn't get to "That Woman's" office until 12:00 A.M. or P.M. Is midnight A.M. or P.M.? Doesn't really matter. It was raining hard !! As I unlocked the door and stepped in, I said "Oh _ _ _ _" !!! Water, water everywhere. I didn't know where to start first. Waste baskets !!! I stand in that office, and all I can hear is rain hitting most of the tiles above me and pouring in throughout the rest of them. I know the original tile is going to fall. I can only hope and pray it waits until "That Woman" is in her office and at her desk when it happens. No such luck. I was frantically moving all of "That Woman's" stuff out of the way when it fell. I had my back to it so I didn't see it coming. It scared the _ _ _ _ out of me !! Sounded like a cannon going off. As I was trying to get away from the cannon, I hit my wrist on the wall. I thought it was broken or sprained at first. I was lucky. It just hurt for a while. I cleaned up the rest of the office ( not my usual best effort) , covered computer, other papers, file cabinet and lap top with plastic, shut out the lights and left.

Then I went to the rest of the offices and dealt with all the other leaks.. I am now in the "safety" of my own home. I say "safety" , but that too is is questionable. That is for all of you who know about our basement problems.

As I sit here at my computer, I am trying to picture what might be happening at work. Is "That Woman" calling "Hot Shot" about her missing ceiling tile? Do they even think about her soaked items laying all over the isles? The things that are covered in plastic? The waste baskets half full of water? I can imagine the conversation now. "That Woman" will call "Hot Shot" and tell him one of her ceiling tiles is gone again. "Hot Shot" will call the shop foreman again and demand that "That Woman's" tile be replaced, this time to be left where it is. Trust me, the next time it happens, I will leave it right where it falls. "That Woman" needs to see, and show "Hot Shot" what happens when you replace tiles that shouldn't otta be replaced !!