Keeping the surface smooth

It wasn't until last week I learned about a lot of 'stories' going around the office that I'd missed.

• A married guy (whose wife is either pregnant or in confinement after giving birth, depending from whom you hear this story...) who made his moves towards a young unsuspecting single girl, who now had asked for a transfer due to 'pressures' from left and right...
• Top level management's interest in re-positioning our sector's Executive Officer as the division's Executive Officer...
• An officer seemingly keen on creating disharmony among officers in the sector

So, what have all these has anything to do with me?

First - that 'young unsuspecting single girl' who was duped into believing that slick guy is my unit's clerk. Understandably, she's now under a lot of pressure - her mother had even asked her to quit. I personally believe that a transfer to her hometown would be a better option - she won't lose her job, her mother could worry less with them being in the same district and that sick guy would have some trouble troubling her with all the distance.

Second - while I'm the so-called 'sector's admin officer", our EO has been doing all the nitty gritty stuff and she's good at it. The sector need her around. At least for the time being, what with us having no Chief Clerk and all.

Third - other officers in the sector have asked me to 'talk to' this particular officer because it seems like I am the only one who has 'no case' (read: 'bengang') with her.

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So, how could one advise someone with a 'superiority complex'?

You ask "what is 'superiority complex'"? Well, overheard 'clues' are something along the line of:

• "Oh, we got more stuff done than others. Other units do not have that much to do anyway"
• "I don't know about others, but I know that my [insert cooking here] was a big hit during lunch yesterday. The Big Boss loved it!"
• "My junior officers are the best speakers. They know more compared to others"
• (To her junior officer during a retreat program ) "You don't have to man the laptop, it can be stressful. Let others man the lap top. Not you"
• (To a junior officer from a different unit in the same retreat program) "You man the laptop. My officer had done enough."

And I won't start on 'putting one against another' incidents. Or 'talking behind one's back' - saying one thing in front of you, and another behind your back. I was told that when the junior officers compared notes among themselves, it really made some of them simply lost their respect for her as an officer more senior than them.

But this is not my war with her. I was told that she remarked to others that I only relaxed most of the time, very unlike her who found it difficult to relax even for a bit.

Well,

I might not appear busy, running there and here all the time;

I might not write memos for colleagues in the same sector (which got our colleague all riled up, asking "What the???.You might want to write memos to officers of different sectors - not in the same one!");

I might not report to the Big Boss or Bigger Boss often;

I don't mind others getting more invitation to give talk more often than I do;

But - I get my job done.

Just because I don't work in the same fashion that she does, it doesn't mean I have any lesser job than hers. Or work any lesser than her.

After all, when one have piles of thick files on their desk, it could only indicate whether they have a lot to do or do not know how to do their job well.

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You know how it is like when you used a pencil to write on a piece of paper, made a mistake and erased it, the surface of the paper is no longer smooth?

I would like to keep that harmony going on, to keep the surface smooth.

But I find it difficult to do so. Tak banyak, sikit, ada juga tercalar di hati.

I know - I'm so weak.

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Oh Allah - please forgive your servants who keep 'menzalimi' our own selves...