Slammed, Jammed, And Damned

Last night I was minding my own business, doing my job. As safety administrator for the building I was doing the monthly safety inspection. I went to inspect and test an eyewash station in one department, and it was totally blocked by...crap that shouldn't have been there. I tried to move some of the stuff and work around it, and I ended up tripping and falling on it. I sent a polite email to the department supervisor asking him to have the junk and clutter removed. That's my job.

Today when I came in to work, I found in my in box the most hateful and snarky message from this supervisor. In this message he asked me why I didn't take care of the problem myself. Then he went into a tirade, questioning my performance of my assigned duties! I was floored, to say the least.

I sent off a carefully worded reply. I advised him he must be under the mistaken impression that I solely am responsible for safety in the building, when in fact it is everyone’s collective responsibility. I told him that I spend plenty of time and energy dealing with a lot of things that have nothing to do with me simply because they fall under the heading of safety, but one thing I won’t do is spend my time personally dealing with safety items that are a matter of housekeeping for another department.

I then told him in so many words that he was way out of line questioning my performance of my direct responsibilities, that that right is reserved for my superiors. I closed by asking him to come see me in person the next time he has a beef with me. The whole thing has me stunned and aggitated.

Other than that, It's raining buckets right now. I'm watching two departments because one of my cohorts is out. One fourth of my department is out and we have piles of work. I'm thinking more and more that tomorrow I'm going to skip the chores and go trout fishing. The weather will be perfect for it.