Anger. Up until recently, how people vent their frustrations has never been something I have paid much attention to. I already know how temperamental I get which occurs most every other day highway driving and/or get caught in traffic jams.
Having been a computer systems analyst for almost a year now, sitting in my cubicle taking calls, amongst numerous others who do the same, the one thing I do other than read and have long winded discussions with co-workers on topics ranging from world issues to company policies, is notice how people express themselves when something or someone triggers a negative response.
“Are you f------ stupid or what,” said one of my coworkers one Monday morning while on a call. Of course, the caller on the other end of the line did not hear the statement because the analyst switched off the intercom button.
“Power off the printer, what are you talking about you don’t understand what that means,” the analyst said.
On another end of the office floor, it is not at all that unusual to see a manual fly across the room from one person. Sometimes, this person will bang so hard on the keyboard it causes the next three cubicles to shake.
When one analyst having worked on a technical problem at a location for 45 minutes, learned the person gave him the wrong site-code, the analyst put the person on hold and said with his fist raised, in a low monotone, “D--- you.”
“I thought you reminded me of someone Joe, but I could never figure out who,” said a friend of mine.
There is an innovative word taking my workplace by storm these days. For all I know, society has already caught on and I have been too busy to notice. It is hard to believe this profound statement is just now catching on seeing since the Fox TV show has been on for several years now.
The word is uttered by a bald, overweight, lovable loser on just about every episode. No, I am not talking about Al Bundy; that other pathetic loser 110 percent of today’s men dream of being when they grow up. The person I am referring to is a cartoon character known as Homer on “The Simpsons” (1989).
Whether it is when son Bart ticks him off, or if the first word out of Maggie’s mouth is not daddy, it is “Homer” or if it is because he just did something stupid, the response is always the same.
“DOH!!!!”
Someone could even say it in such a loud, alarming manner it can only mean to the supervisor, the analyst just did something horribly tragic.
“DOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“As in D.O.H.,” said one person.
It was on that morning last week; my coordinator let an employee know the correct spelling of the word. It is not “DOE” or “DOA” as I figured. Not that I cared.
It seems this is the coworker’s way of saying, “If you get mad, just say DOH.”
Personally, I find it so much easier to utter what Mr. Spock referred to in the 20th century as “colorful metaphors.” Old habits die hard. I just do not picture myself stooping to the level of a cartoon character. I do not think I will ever be turned over to the “DOH” side. It just will not happen.
Then a few weeks ago, my battery charge light lit up on the dashboard while driving home from work.
I said nothing until the next day when I saw the $400 bill.
“DOH!!!!!”
©1/29/97
Having been a computer systems analyst for almost a year now, sitting in my cubicle taking calls, amongst numerous others who do the same, the one thing I do other than read and have long winded discussions with co-workers on topics ranging from world issues to company policies, is notice how people express themselves when something or someone triggers a negative response.
“Are you f------ stupid or what,” said one of my coworkers one Monday morning while on a call. Of course, the caller on the other end of the line did not hear the statement because the analyst switched off the intercom button.
“Power off the printer, what are you talking about you don’t understand what that means,” the analyst said.
On another end of the office floor, it is not at all that unusual to see a manual fly across the room from one person. Sometimes, this person will bang so hard on the keyboard it causes the next three cubicles to shake.
When one analyst having worked on a technical problem at a location for 45 minutes, learned the person gave him the wrong site-code, the analyst put the person on hold and said with his fist raised, in a low monotone, “D--- you.”
How I manage my frustration at work is the same way I do at home whenever I am on the computer. I throw the mouse across the desk. At home, this usually occurs every time I try to sign on America On-line and keep getting busy signals or the message which comes up saying, “the system is temporarily unavailable, thank you for calling.”At work, sometimes, I will slam on the enter keys if certain commands are not going through. However, I never learned such negative quarks until I started in the world of computer troubleshooting. I learned them sitting alongside someone who trained me on weekday nights and did the same thing whenever he was on a call.
There is an innovative word taking my workplace by storm these days. For all I know, society has already caught on and I have been too busy to notice. It is hard to believe this profound statement is just now catching on seeing since the Fox TV show has been on for several years now.
The word is uttered by a bald, overweight, lovable loser on just about every episode. No, I am not talking about Al Bundy; that other pathetic loser 110 percent of today’s men dream of being when they grow up. The person I am referring to is a cartoon character known as Homer on “The Simpsons” (1989).
Whether it is when son Bart ticks him off, or if the first word out of Maggie’s mouth is not daddy, it is “Homer” or if it is because he just did something stupid, the response is always the same.
“DOH!!!!”
For months, coworkers have put this word (if you call it that) into their vocabulary. A person may say it after being told by the supervisor they should have checked their e-mail before asking them a question. An e-mail the boss sent out one time did not go into any detail about a minor screw-up that happened on the other side of the world. The answer spoke for itself.“DOH!!!”
Someone could even say it in such a loud, alarming manner it can only mean to the supervisor, the analyst just did something horribly tragic.
“DOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“As in D.O.H.,” said one person.
It was on that morning last week; my coordinator let an employee know the correct spelling of the word. It is not “DOE” or “DOA” as I figured. Not that I cared.
It seems this is the coworker’s way of saying, “If you get mad, just say DOH.”
Personally, I find it so much easier to utter what Mr. Spock referred to in the 20th century as “colorful metaphors.” Old habits die hard. I just do not picture myself stooping to the level of a cartoon character. I do not think I will ever be turned over to the “DOH” side. It just will not happen.
Then a few weeks ago, my battery charge light lit up on the dashboard while driving home from work.
I said nothing until the next day when I saw the $400 bill.
“DOH!!!!!”
©1/29/97
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