Due to the popularity of the ‘Overheard in my office…’ posts and with the motivation of these three ladies, and thanks to the genius that is my husband, who worked tirelessly and with much patience for my endless questions, I am proud to launch Overheard in my office…, a brand spanking new blog to document all the wacky, absurd and poke-my-eyes-out-with-a-spoon moments that happen in my office.
Please head on over and take a look around!
R: If I have two squares in my email do I have to save them individually or will they save together?
Me: Squares?
R: Yes, those little square things in the bottom.
I realize she means attachments.
Me: No you have to save them individually…
R: Ok.
10 min later
R: Ok, I have saved them, now if I want to drag them to XYZ folder must I do it individually or will they go together?
Me: But didn’t you save it in XYZ folder?
R: Yes.
Me: Well then why do you need to drag them to the folder?
R: I always do.
Me: Ok, then they must go individually (I say this not really understanding why she needs to drag them over if they are already saved in the right folder).
Another 10 min later
R: Can you come and see this?
Me: Ok.
I walk over to her computer, she shows me that she was talking about moving the email into a new folder in her in-box (with the same name as the folder where she saved the attachments originally).
Me: So you need to drag the email to XYZ folder?
R: Yes.
Me: So then drag the email.
R: But will both attachments be moved?
*sigh*
A little background, we have been working on a data capturing project for just over a month, this lady has been helping since the beginning of the year, I have always opened the document (that is on the desk top) for her but she has watched me do it numerous times.
P: Can you help me, I cant see the words, only the windows blocks
Me: Oooookaaaay
I take a look, she has a new Excel document open
P: See, only the blocks no words
I minimize all the windows until I get to the desk top, I then open the Excel document she needs to be working on.
P: oh, how did you do that, I went to start and opened the Excel in the menu…
This was overheard by a colleague in her other office…
R: The Knysna Golf Course burnt down yesterday.
E: Where? In Knysna?
K (standing at the fax machine): Do you think, if I am dialing an ‘0860’ number I still need to dial ‘0’ for a line?
K: In my Windows Word page, why does every line start with a capital letter?
I bash my head quickly (and quietly) on my desk and get up to take a look. Its exactly what I thought would be the problem…
Me: Ok, see, when you are typing and you get to the end of a line, you do not have to press enter, just keep typing and the words will automatically move onto the next line.
K: Oh.
Please, dear readers, be aware that this was the second time I had explained this phenomenon to the same person over a period of 6 or so months!
We have a Konica Minolta Bizhub, it is my baby, I sourced it, dealt with the sales rep, organised the contract and take responsibility for maintaining it. It also stands about a meter away from my desk. Many many ‘Overheard in my office…’ moments take place around the copy machine…
I am busy working away, like the diligent worker I am, and out of the corner of my eye I see D standing at the machine with a hard cover, bound book. She is searching for the page she wants to copy.
I think nothing of it.
Until I see her placing the book, the hard cover, bound book, on the document feed tray.
I look up and say very politely, “Um, D, you cant copy that like that, you need to put it on the glass.”
D says to me, “Are you sure?”
“Yes D, Im pretty sure that isnt going to work.”
“Ok.” says D.
She puts the book on the glass and makes her copies.
About 10 minutes later I see her come back to the machine, the same book in hand.
Wait for it…
She starts to place the book into the document feed tray, again.
“D! You cant do that, put it on the glass!”
“Oh, I was just making sure…”
Another classic:
R: What do the letters UIF* stand for on our pay slips.
A: Doesn’t it stand for Unidentified Flying Object?
*Unemployment Insurance Fund
A little background…
I work for an organisation that has been running for many many years. Quite a few of the ladies I work with have been with the organisation since the year dot, or near enough anyway. One of the ladies has worked for the organisation since she was 18, she’s worked there for almost 45 years, you do the math…
Not a day goes by when one or other of them doesn’t utter something that makes me laugh out loud or cringe in embarrassment or sometimes even want to smack one of them (affectionately of course).
So I thought I would create a new category, “Overheard in my office…” and document some of the funny and not so funny stuff that is said in my office.
A classic to start us off…
A: Why is milk so expensive?
B: I dont know.
A: Because you know, cows eat grass and grass is free…
