Every Kind of People

I ran into someone last week that I used to work with on a temporary assignment (hey, my royalties don't exactly rival those of Stephen King, so I do some temp work now and again) some months ago, and seeing her again made me remember an incident that took place between us. She chided me for taking the next step, telling me that our job was to proceed with the task at hand and not check the work of the people giving it to us. I thought this was silly, because if the process didn’t complete the first time, it only kicked back to us for further attention. When I pointed this out, she told me that she merely gives it back to the originator and asks them to sort it out.

Just like flowery romance writing gives it a bad name among many readers (but that’s another column for another day,) to me this kind of It’s-not-my-job attitude gives administrative assistants a bad rep as well. But what really ticked me off was watching this same person, who was so quick to throw something back to certain people, go out of her way to be helpful toward other people. Then I realized the distinction: The people she was so dismissive of worked from cubicles. The ones she tried so hard to be of assistance to had offices, with four walls and a door. And that’s what bothered me. In the old days it used to be called "brown-nosing" in polite company, and I would guess that it's still called "ass kissing" in more liberal circles.

I never said anything to that person about how I felt (a nice part of temp work means you can toss most things over your shoulder,) and that week-long assignment has long since ended. But I wonder if she truly believes that it’s okay to treat people differently because of their position.

What about you? Do you always treat all people with the same basic courtesy and respect, whether they’re a bum on the street or an elegantly dressed person, someone who holds a low-ranking position versus a divisional head or a vice president?

Think about it.