Woman! Make Me a Snadwich!

In honor of National Administrative Professionals Day, I would like to take a moment to discuss tactfulness. It appears to me that a majority of the testicularly gifted population are somewhat lacking in this category. Now I'm not being sexist by saying that all receptionists are women - but they are, so maybe I am. With the exception of Jan's sweet singing Hunter, I do not personally know any man carrying out these responsibilities. That said, lets get on with it.

Just today, while installing a new dishwasher in the office, our lovely administrative assistant, we'll call her Pam (see Rusty's current Babe of the Week), was observing a coworker and myself as we worked. She was eager to help in any way so that she could get back to washing dirty coffee mugs and those little plastic octagons that sit below the coffee makers to catch all the rouge drips. When we came upon a flat head screw and all we had were a phillips and a needle-nose pliers, Pam offered to run and find the appropriate tool. At this my coworker piped up and said, "Don't bother. By the time you get back, I'll be done with it."

With a dejected look on her face, she responded only with a quite, "Oh." She then sat down and remained quiet for the remainder of the operation.

Now I understand that this was a completely resonable response to give. The message was clear and he was only trying to save her a trip to the tool chest. It is the delivery of this message that cvould have used some work. Perhaps the situation could have been better handled with a simple, "I think this will work" or "No, but I could use a beer." Showing better rapport with women will ot only increase their willingness to help, but will also prevent the awful episodes of crankiness we all dread.

Now, I am not saying that we are all equal and need to be treated as such. Clearly this is untrue; men are the undisputed dominant sex of our species. But with great power comes great responsiblitiy. And who's gonna make me that sandwich when you guys have chased all the womenz away.