Well after a little bit of a respite there (not from CCL, of course…just one from writing about her), I am back. And with a fresh story about CCL.
For the last couple of weeks, our office bathrooms have been going through a total renovation. So, if one needs to use the restroom, they must either take the stairs or elevator to another floor in the building. There are two sets of stairs in our building; one is a contained interior style—your typical stairwell—while the other is an exterior open style made of steel and concrete. It’s got a modern feel to it & allows you to see above and below you a bit more than the interior set does.
As you can imagine, while the last couple of weeks have been filled with bathroom remodeling noises, they’ve also included another annoying noise: CCL’s constant complaints of having to go to another floor to use the restroom. Last week she made it a point to say daily, “it is such a pain to have to schedule your bathroom trips every day.” There is no schedule or calendar for the bathroom usage, so I have no clue as to why she’d have to schedule them for herself. Today she called it “cruel and unusual punishment” and said that since she’s watched “This Old House”, she thinks she can help the builders complete the job a little faster. (Her attempt at humor.) After returning from the restroom, she stopped by and said, “I have figured out why I get so nervous coming down the outside stairs from the second floor. I’m fine walking up, but coming down gets me anxious. It’s because of my fear of heights and not because I fear the concrete.” I wanted to ask why she’d have a fear of concrete, but I held my tongue. Then she said, “As you’re coming down, if you look to the right you can see the platform and one flight of stairs below you, which you can’t see in the inside stairwell.”
My reply: “Then look left, take the elevator or use the other flight of stairs. Easy fix.”
She did not seem to appreciate my proposed solution (I think she was frustrated that there wasn’t a thing within my suggestion that she could reasonably argue) and mumbled some final complaint as she stalked off. This was, of course, not her first visit of the day. Nor the first time today she was frustrated with my replies.
When I first got to work, a lightning-filled rain storm momentarily knocked out the building’s power. My laptop was booting up the first time it happened & while it was booting, I was texting Doc. As soon as the power loss happened, I added a prediction to my text to Doc: CCL would shortly be coming to my desk to vocalize some complaint about the power flicker. Sure enough, she shuffled right on over.
She said, “You people with your laptops suck. I have a lowly desktop and it reboots itself each time the power flickers.”
I said, “It disconnects my laptop from the network and the thing won’t reconnect until I reboot, so we’re in the same boat regardless of the computer type.”
I had zero sympathy for her situation, as we were each inconvenienced by the exact same event. The difference between us---well, one among many (gratefully)—is that I don’t feel that my problems, no matter how small & insignificant to the average person they may be, are 100000% worse than anyone else’s. It is not my first assumption, nor my second. But, that is not the way of CCL. Her first assumption is that because she experienced it, it was the worst thing on earth and no one else could possibly understand how tough it is. Even if they experienced it too. (Her most common saying in general & particularly when anyone complains near her: “Welcome to my world.”)
I may be evil, but I will admit that I find a tremendous amount of joy in shooting down her self-pity moments by pointing out that a given issue is not exclusive to her alone. Oh that provides such a tremendous amount of joy indeed! Her negativity is absolutely draining and so any moment it can be lessened is a wonderful moment.
Meanwhile, she just capped off the day by coming by to say good night…and to complain that her dad forgot to come pick her up, so she’s late leaving. She said her blood sugar level was screwed up this morning (she’s diabetic). On those days (incidentally, they typically occur only when she doesn’t have anything large in her life to complain about), she has her dad drive her to and from work. This also provides another opportunity to complain about something, as he’s NEVER arrived at the exact time she wants him to be. It doesn’t matter if he’s early or late—either presents major issues that then require a day of complaints. So, she was able to get that in today too.
In one positive note, she did say earlier today that she helped her dad use up three Groupons this weekend. The negative side of that was that she complained about two of the three places & recommended I avoid them at all cost. In reality, they are probably amazing places, so I’ll be checking them out soon…
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