All good things...
Jul. 2nd, 2021 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
superbadgirlAs the agency I work for moves toward Phase II of the return to semi normal and people begin returning to the office part time (none of them will be back full time), the bigwigs re-released the office etiquette guidelines that have been amended to accommodate the fact that most of the employees will be sharing a cubicle.
One of the things that has never been new but came to light in reviewing the policies is: no personal furniture. This, for some reason, sent one of my colleagues into a tailspin. Attica! He is mad that an ugly chair he has in his cube primarily as decoration - people rarely sat in it pre-COVID and no one since - can't stay. He made such a stink about it that he bombarded the boss with clarifying questions, and even went around her to email the bigwigs directly.
Folks. My boss is generally pretty good about ignoring things if you don't make them impossible to do so. So, by asking a billion questions and pushing the issue, colleague pushed boss into more and more rigid stance.
Now, unlike colleague, the "personal furniture" I have in my cube is an exercise ball, on which I sit instead of a chair. Why? Because I haven't found an office chair yet that doesn't end up hobbling me at the hip and compress my back to levels of discomfort I don't feel is worth it.
Boss came up to me this morning, first thing, and said she could no longer look the other way with the ball.
I basically spent the rest of the day pissed off. And talking to HR about "accommodations" - they won't take a chiropractor's note that the ball is vital for my spinal and hip health. They suggested I stand for an hour, sit for ten, stand, sit, etc. They don't get that it's a cumulative thing and that sitting itself isn't the issue, it's sitting on an unyielding surface.
Sigh. Grumble. If colleague could have just not been an enormous baby about it, then maybe this wouldn't have happened.
One of the things that has never been new but came to light in reviewing the policies is: no personal furniture. This, for some reason, sent one of my colleagues into a tailspin. Attica! He is mad that an ugly chair he has in his cube primarily as decoration - people rarely sat in it pre-COVID and no one since - can't stay. He made such a stink about it that he bombarded the boss with clarifying questions, and even went around her to email the bigwigs directly.
Folks. My boss is generally pretty good about ignoring things if you don't make them impossible to do so. So, by asking a billion questions and pushing the issue, colleague pushed boss into more and more rigid stance.
Now, unlike colleague, the "personal furniture" I have in my cube is an exercise ball, on which I sit instead of a chair. Why? Because I haven't found an office chair yet that doesn't end up hobbling me at the hip and compress my back to levels of discomfort I don't feel is worth it.
Boss came up to me this morning, first thing, and said she could no longer look the other way with the ball.
I basically spent the rest of the day pissed off. And talking to HR about "accommodations" - they won't take a chiropractor's note that the ball is vital for my spinal and hip health. They suggested I stand for an hour, sit for ten, stand, sit, etc. They don't get that it's a cumulative thing and that sitting itself isn't the issue, it's sitting on an unyielding surface.
Sigh. Grumble. If colleague could have just not been an enormous baby about it, then maybe this wouldn't have happened.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-03 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-03 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-04 11:03 pm (UTC)