One reason I left the Patent Office was that while there were a lot of good people there, it did attract its share of weirdos. I could go on for pages, but this one weirdo is the case-in-point.
Today, he would be called an incel or gamer or geek. He was a 30-something male, overweight and unkempt, who was lazy and didn't do his job and blamed everyone else for his woes. You know, your average computer geek male in 2022. He was fat, he was slovenly, and one habit in particular drove me nuts.
He would go down to the basement mall in Crystal City and buy these "big gulp" soda-pops in plastic cups. You get to keep the cup! And he did. He would gulp this soda and then have a burping contest. I am not kidding about this. He would belch, loudly, and actually open the door to his office and lean out into the hallway so it would echo throughout the floor. And I am not talking about a small burp, but these long, drawn-out, "Burrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap! kind of things.
Gross. But it got worse.
He kept the cups in his office - unwashed - and stacked them up in the corner. As a result, we had an infestation of cockroaches in the office, and that was gross, too. I mentioned this to my boss and since the guy was in another Art Unit, there was nothing to be done, as his supervisor (who was also slovenly and stupid) didn't see it as a problem but thought it was "funny" and that I needed to "lighten up."
Of course, the guy was mortgaging cases - he was a lazy slob, so he would pretend to examine cases to meet his quota and avoid being fired (he was always 1% above the level of production needed to keep his job). And eventually it was discovered that, gee-whiz, whaddya know? He's a scumbag!
Interesting thing that. I read all the time online about people being harassed and bullied at work, and supervisors and managers who defend the bullies and harassers. Later on, they find out the miscreants were stealing from the company. Maybe when someone complains about boorish behavior in the workplace, you should pay attention. The guy harassing the secretary isn't just a "jerk" or being "inappropriate" - he probably isn't doing his job, either. When you have enough time in the day to stir the pot, chances are, you don't have enough to do. Just fire people like that - if they feel so entitled they can get away with whatever they want - and you let them - they will probably be your downfall.
Just a th
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