Message #945

[vegasadmin]

I just had this conversation at work.  I've mentioned before that I work for my step-dad.  Well, he's recently brought in my grandfather to help him out with drawing and some other things.  It's a real family business - DH is one of the shop employees and my mom does all the office supply purchasing.  (BTW, grampa is actually my step-grandfather - and he and step-dad are half brothers.  Yes, I have a bit of an odd family.  :-O )  Grampa and I share an office and there are plenty of other people in and out of there as well.  I have a particular spot on the counter to put the outgoing mail and the letter carriers are aware that they need to look there.  Except that people have taken to moving the mail when I'm not there (so they can put their own stuff down, I think) then don't put it back when it's done.  Thursday I saw that the mail had been moved again and I said that people need to quit moving the mail because if it's not there, the letter carriers won't know where to look for it and the mail won't go out.  Grampa immediately says, "Well then you'd better find another place to put it because people are going to move it whether you want it there or not."  I politely - but firmly! - said, "They need to learn to leave things the way they are; this is my desk and it shows a lack of respect for me when they refuse to leave things on my desk the way they found them."  "Well people are going to move things anyway, you should change how you do things."  "People can be trained to leave things the way they find them.  Not doing that shows a complete lack of respect."



Respect is going to be a bit of an issue here.  Its not between me and Boss - he didn't raise me (I was an adult when he and mom got married) and it seems pretty easy for him to separate "step-daughter" from "employee" and treat me the way he'd treat any office manager or admin.  (Actually, he's never had a problem separating "family member" from "employee" no matter who the family member is and he's employed many over the years in various businesses.)



Grampa, on the other hand, has been my grampa all my life and I think he doesn't - and probably can't - separate "granddaughter" from "co-worker".  Plus he's from the old school in which the office manager/admin/secretary was "just the secretary", certainly not a professional and definitely not someone who requires any respect.  (Of course I'm also a woman - and therefore anything I say doesn't carry nearly as much weight as it would if I were male and saying the same thing.  *sigh*)



Not seeking advice, just commisserating!  This isn't going to become a big problem because we'll either learn to work together or I'll find another place to work - pretty simple.  <g>  So far, it's not bad but we've had our rough spots.  It's only been a week, though; we'll see how things progress for a little while.



In the meantime (thanks to some gentle prodding from the nice folks here) my resume is up to date and ready to go when need be.



Colleen