by Claire
I missed last Friday’s rant but don’t worry…this week has brought a couple of thoughts. They’re unrelated but I think we can all relate.
First, yesterday morning while sitting at my desk a co-worker walked in and as this person does every single time she walks in…she offered no greeting to me or to my assistant. We used to say good morning first and often got no response or some kind of grunt sound. I don’t know why on this particular day it struck me as exceptionally rude. I didn’t say anything but I did stop what I was doing and call my Mom. It’s unusual for me to call Mom early on a weekday so she was a bit startled.
I just called to thank her and my Dad for raising me to always be cordial. She was curious about what happened but I didn’t get into it then–just kept thanking her. We were raised to know that no matter what, you greet people. Even if you are having a not-so-good morning…you greet people. No need to have an extended conversation–just don’t act like people are invisible.
Next…I am certainly not immune from typos and grammatical errors but I try really hard to proofread my work and if I have a question about the use or spelling of a word I look it up before finalizing. This goes for this blog too but I know things can slip through the cracks.
I received yet another letter from a licensed professional using the word “regards” incorrectly. This has to be the number one error I see in my job. And so my rant (that the kids hear pretty regularly) is this: You GIVE someone your REGARDS…you REGARD something when you refer to it in a sentence. “Please give my regards to Sam in regard to his promotion” is a good example . At least once a week I see “I am writing in regards to…” and that is incorrect. I know there are a ton of these (lose v. loose is another biggie!) out there so I won’t go on and on here!
Have a great day! Bring on the weekend!
Regards,
Claire
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
OMG. Words like regards, towards, upwards, etc. drive me insane. I don’t move towards the door, I move TOWARD it. And I twitch a little when I read blogs with spelling and grammar errors… Everyone has a typo here and there, but when someone has frequent and blatant mistakes, I unsubscribe.
Claire: Oh man, don’t get me started on this one! I have a few to add:
then vs. than
you, your and you’re
know vs no (this one boggles the mind)
I’m not saying I dpn’t slip up as well from time to time, but the above examples really frost me…
Sorry for jumping in on your rant….
I feel better now..lol
HA! Just did it. TYPO!!!!! don’t vs dpn’t….oh boy. Didn’t say I was a proficient typist.
I used too many ellipses and dashes Maura! We are never alone. LOL
If this turns into a grammar rant we may crash a server somewhere! My personal irritations are sentences which begin with nonsense like “him and me are going….”. Last time I checked that would be he and I. I have a work colleague who regularly throws “irregardless” into a sentence. It’s either with regard (as in your example) or regardless. There is no such word as irregardless. Somedays it’s all I can do not to correct her over the cubical dividers like one of my kids.
Snuck is another word that drives me to distraction. It’s actually sneaked, as in “I sneaked into the theater after the movie started”. Apparently snuck has been used long enough that it’s now appearing as a real word in some dictionaries.
Cool grammar.
Oh, Miss Fussy Pants! LOL!
I like that Claire! Fussy Pants! Wasn’t it Tina Fey who wrote “Miss Bossypants?” She needs a follow-up “Miss Fussy Pants!” 🙂
Hmmm…my Friday rant would have to be something about not having my own assistant! :p
…or perhaps I could rant about those Facebook math quizzes that nearly everyone gets wrong because they don’t remember their order of operations. 😮
Oh Matt I could use any and all math tips! I am that person who definitely doesn’t remember my order of operations. Give me words and forget the numbers! 🙂
I could use the grammar lessons! Feel free to include one in each if your posts – related or not! Regards – Sandy 😉
Thanks for the grammar pro-tip!
Yes, I hate bad writing/grammar, and sadly, it’s incredibly prevalent in the U.S. I stop reading blogs with bad writing. I sometimes stopped reading when the last person was doing this blog – her writing was painful. Now that I know you care about grammar, I might send some suggestions. One of the biggest weaknesses in your writing is excessive use of ellipses and dashes to drag on a sentence that should be ended sooner (not in this post but in others).
Regarding the other issue, your life will be happier and have less drama overall if you 1) avoid making assumptions when you don’t have full information (which we almost never have) and 2) when you don’t make things about yourself. Maybe your coworker doesn’t say hello because she’s rude. But maybe it’s because she has a social anxiety disorder, maybe she has a mental health issue, maybe a family member or pet had passed away, maybe she’s otherwise depressed, maybe she had a bad morning for some reason, etc. You just don’t know. And clearly her style of greeting has nothing to do with YOU. So why let it affect you?? That’s just a pointless use of energy.
Margot, as a reader of my blog you make a valid point. We often don’t have full information. On this one I have to say I have more information on this co-worker than you do and she’s definitely rude. We’ve worked together for quite some time now and it is evident. As for all of the other possible causes you reference, I’m not sure I can accept any of them as a reason to be rude. If a sudden issue arose (death of a loved one or pet, bad morning), then make it right when you are able. Let people know what’s going on when you are able so that you aren’t written off as rude. If there’s an anxiety issue or mental health challenge, it is my position that unless it is so unmanageable that you shouldn’t be in the workplace, consistently being rude simply is not okay. Period. This isn’t about me at all, but instead about common courtesy to others. The golden rule.
If you work in a cubicle environment and you called your mother in the earshot of others, your behavior was rude, petty and unprofessional.
Leadership means getting people to do what you want them to do without embarassing or insulting them. Leaders praise publically and counsel privately in a positive, constructive manner. Your behavior demonstrates a lack of leadership skills.
If I were your manager and I observed your behavior, I would reconsider whether you should be promoted to a management position. I look for managers that can build an effective team, encouraging strengths, correcting weaknesses in a constructive manner, amd ignoring issues not relevant to the work.
I agree totally! I would never do this in the earshot of others. My call to my Mom was about my gratitude to her and my Dad. This post is being read in a vacuum by some of you. I would never rant about this if it was a one time thing or even an every-once-in-awhile occurrence. I incorrectly hoped that what you’ve learned about me in my 5 months of blogging would have told you I am not the petty person you describe here. That was naive of me to think. It was not at all about anyone hearing the call. That’s why I made it from my office with my door shut.
For what it’s worth, it seemed implied that you had an office with a door. Moreover, I thought you made it somewhat clear that this was the normal mode of operation for this person as opposed to a one-off type of situation. That’s was just my interpretation of what you wrote though. 😉
Thanks Matt. I’m much better about taking online criticism from total strangers (compared to the beginning of my blog) but that one needed a clear and concise response.
My biggest grammar pet peeves are your/you’re, their/they’re/there, and good/well. I had a teacher sophomore year who would stop people mid sentence if they used good instead of well.
Hate “invaluable”, meaning without value, not “can’t live without it valuable. It’s right up there with irregardless as another reader pointed out.
I sympathize with the rude co-worker. I work in a very small office (total 6 employees for the whole company). We all try to unfailingly greet each other every day and ask “how was your weekend?” or something similar. There is no space in an organization for rude, me, me, me types.
Gasp! How have I not been bothered by invaluable before?! I knew exactly what you were talking about when I read this and I’ve certainly heard it! I just never registered it before. Great! A new obsession! 🙂
I try really hard to be inclusive and positive at the office. It usually doesn’t take much effort because common courtesy is reciprocated. Not so with all and you are right in saying there’s no room for that type.