Since I stay home to raise the SofieDove, I sometimes daydream about when I used to work. I sort of miss the day to day grind, making lists, accomplishing the lists, then getting a paycheck for my efforts. I do love staying home with my ankle biter, but sometimes I miss the adult interaction that has 'purpose' rather than talking to other SAHMs about diaper rash or what color my little cherub pooped up when I gave her oreo cookies.

So I have been thinking about the various types of personalities that I have seen in the work environment. These are the personalities of people I've worked with since I've graduated college.

* Mr. Belligerent - The guy who always seems to walk around the office with a chip on his shoulder. He is usually very assertive in meetings, often raising his voice to others for no reason.
* The Useless Interjector - This is the wise guy who likes to add a little useless comment at every meeting. He is sometimes funny, but his little comments often increase the length of these meetings by a lot. I have seen entire groups digress from the main topic of the meeting for 5-10 minutes after Mr. Useless Intejector makes some funny off-topic comment.
* Mr. Cynical - There are sometimes many Mr. Cynicals in a group. Personally, I like talking to the cynics because they are usually funny, and they have an outlook on life so different than my own. Usually these people like to make snide remarks about upper management. These are the "Dilbert" workers, who often complain among themselves in small pockets of angst.
* Mr. Limitless Energy (also known as Mr. Happy) - This guy is usually the opposite of Mr. Cynical. These are the workers with personalities like a young puppy, who like to volunteer for everything and always maintain a positive attitude around the office. These are the people who avidly preach company spirit, and they often support the little Human Resources team building activities (the kind of activities that Mr. Cynical makes fun of -- like "role playing" and "brainstorming").
* The Kid - There is always a youngest member of 'the team'. It does not matter if everyone on the team is 70 years old, because the 60 year old guy will be "the kid". I have been the kid at my previous jobs. The others sometimes look at you as the one who's 'most knowledgeable' when it comes to the computer and accessing information via the web.
* Young Executive - This is the person whose every move seems to be a ploy to become a Vice President. They are very ambitious and are always trying to project an image of success by wearing a suit on casual Fridays and calling the 'uppers' sir and Mr. so-n-so. Brown nosers.
* Dazed and Confused - The person who nobody will take responsibility for hiring. This person's most notable feature is the blank stare when asked any sort of question.

Wow, I just read over this list, and it sounds pretty negative. I did not mean to be so negative (you'd think I am a Mr. Cynical based upon my observations), but I guess the negative traits are more interesting than the positive traits.

When I was thinking of these types of personalities, I pictured a particular person from my 'working days'. Funny, when I complied this list I was thinking to myself, "Gawd, I hated working with that bastard."

Staying home ain't so bad. I don't have anything to bitch about being in my own environment. I create my own positive little social sphere. I surround myself in colors that make me happy, a temperature that makes me happy, sounds that make me happy and everytime I open the backdoor arming myself with a camera, I have a world to wonder in and rediscover.

c-
:))

Tags: work, personalities, nature, being positive, sahm