Pr3++yG33kyTh1ng

Yesterday I returned to my desk to find an email from my boss with the single phrase "Come see me" in bold print.
I walked to his office and knocked on the window. He motioned me to open the door and when I did, he asked me to have a seat. Then he asked me to close the door.
I shut the door and stood there, slightly hunched, expecting to be fired or at least asked to do something stupid or impossible.
He told me again to sit down.
I did, trying to keep the panic off my face.
He began,"In addition to my I.T. degree I have a degree in psychology . . ."
"Crap!" I thought,"He's on to me!"
"I watch my people. Everything they do, I like to monitor."
"What did I do?" thoughts screamed through my head, "He has detected my paranoia and interpreted it as guilt!"
He smiled,"I've been watching you."
"He has a problem with me bouncing issues back to Desktop Support! They count Splenda packets! They count Splenda packets!" I think I bit through my cheek.
"I know you feel like this isn't what you want to do," he continued,"but I assure you, you will be better able to use your skills soon. It won't always be like this."
We discussed upcoming initiatives and my role in them. I eventually started breathing again.

Friday morning something interesting happened. I hesitate to mention it, as two men's room related posts in two days is kind of an unpleasant trend.
The downstairs lobby of this building is the only way in. It contains a map and directory, a few conference rooms, a smoking room (who knew they still had those) that my co-workers like to use as a conference room, and some of the only public restrooms in this part of town not located in a restaurant or mall.
Anyway, I heard what sounded like an argument coming from the area of the restroom. This argument (I only heard one voice) was followed by a naked man running out of the restroom hallway and dashing through the lobby. Well, he was wearing boots. I was not alone in the lobby at the time and someone apparently knew the number for Security so they showed up pretty quickly. Then there was a chase. The elevators were disabled - probably thanks to the call to Security as well.
The guy was covered in a blanket and taken to (I hope) a hospital.
Eventually it was decided that the mentally unstable man was using the restroom to bathe, had an episode, and dashed around.
What I learned from this, however, is that companies love to say that their employees are proactive and dynamic and able to quickly adapt to changing conditions - but you can disprove that by watching the stunned faces as a naked man runs through the lobby.