Unfinished Business...

I have a new technique for coping with the office environment ! Thanks to that blessed and life-saving invention FLEXI-TIME, I can schedule my visits to the Town Hall to ensure minimum interaction with The Others !!

Admittedly, this means that I tend to arrive as most people are leaving, but this is a Small Price To Pay.

I pop over late this afternoon, sidling into the main office at approximately 4.45pm, ready for a concerted "hit" on printing off some long documents and downloading several dozen location shots from the digital camera. Line Manager is just on the point of leaving. I manage a fairly relaxed-sounding "night, Line Manager" as he disappears into the gloaming of the corridor. I do pride myself on remaining punctiliously polite, even though - following my complaint about his bullying behaviour (upheld) - this person's efforts to discredit me on every level still resonate luridly in my brain.

As I switch on my hotdesk computer, I realise - rather too late - that the coast is not entirely clear. Spiteful Manager is still lurking, Gollum-like, in the corner. And - oh bugger it, I do not have The Ring about my person.

I am sorry to report that when it comes to Spiteful Manager; my pride, punctiliousness and politeness all leap screaming out of the window. He has never had any managerial authority over me, thank God; but this did not prevent him from playing a major role in the orchestrated ostracism to which I was subjected. This included phoning up my temporary assistant and trying to persuade him into some pathetically petty disloyalty towards me. A major misjudgement on Spiteful Manager's part as it happens, because my assistant - although pink with mortification on my behalf - had the decency to tell me all about it....

Line Manager and I have now entered into an uneasy truce, but at least he is polite to me these days. I mean, today he even sent me a courteous email saying (about my request for an ergonomically designed mouse-mat) "I will arrange that for you, Katharine". Lawks! This represents major progress !!

But Spiteful Manager has never been called to account for his behaviour, despite me submitting a formal complaint about it, so the upshot is that he and I have unfinished business.

This manifests itself thusly:

- Tonight, for over an hour, we are the only two people in the office.
- I walk between my desk and the printer about 12 times, passing his desk each time.
- Spiteful Manager does not look at me or speak to me.
- I do not look at Spiteful Manager, or speak to him.
- This is not excessively hard, as I am listening to back-to-back Kylie albums on my iPod.

Heigh ho.
Just another day at the office...