Oh, how I hate the copier here on the 8th floor. My Capital B Boss has suggested that when the lease is up I might want to chop it to bits with the fire ax and I am looking forward to that very much.
Today I was frustrated enough with the damn thing that I was reduced to calling it - in a rather loud voice - a stupid, fucking USELESS piece of CRAP! (Which. It. Is.)
I was loud enough to draw the attention of a couple of my co-workers. One engineer, one ex-military. Both of them older than me. Fortunately, I am widely considered to be of such calm and even temperament* that when I get all torqued about something it's largely regarded as cute and entertaining. People talk about it for days, each time insisting that I am too nice and that I never get upset.
Well, with one exception. One time I really lost my temper. I don't remember what about, but I was well and truly angry. I didn't yell or cuss or throw things but I was pretty visibly mad and everyone who worked here then still calls that time the "the day that Leta got mad."
*For instance, I was amused rather than mortally offended when one engineer, noting that my sweater was looser than usual, asked me if I was pregnant. In front of other people. The office consensus was that if he had asked anyone but me that question he would have been killed on the spot.
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3 comments:
As another non-cusser, I had a similar thing happen. In a pique of annoyance I said "Oh, Fornication!!" right in front of my supervisor. He was terribly amused. He made fun of it for days afterward and for all I know still does.
To paraphrase Gama, "Like precious stones, Leta's 4-letter words derive their value from their scarcity." People seem to forget that the less you swear, the greater the impact when you actually do let loose with a heavy-duty cuss word.
Oh, and as for "inappropriate for the workplace", that depends on the workplace. My most recent business trip had me working with mostly younger (20s, as young as 21), male junior enlisted types. They wouldn't have batted an eye at that kind of language. Rather, they would probably have teased you for using G-rated substitutes.
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