T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Today was the day from h-e-double hockey sticks. I can't remember when I have had a more miserable day at work. I try to avoid blogging about work, after all you never know who is reading this stuff. This one is a doozy that I feel must be shared.

I got to work early this morning and checked my email. I had an email from a client requesting some information they needed in order to pay some invoices. The email was completely foreign to me. I didn't know the person who sent it to me. It was a forwarded email that this person had sent a couple of weeks ago...to me. Which I did not get. It was also copied to my boss. My boss promptly comes over and asks me if I have sent the information. I search in all my archived folders and can find NO PROOF that I received this email, even though it was obvious that it had been sent to me TWO WEEKS AGO. I was completely dumbfounded. My boss asked to find where I had sent the information to the client.

While I was doing this, The Boss went to his office and printed off an email he had sent to me, asking me to send this same information to the client. It was also dated for a couple of weeks ago. I had NO PROOF that I had received his email either. We determined that I had not sent the information to the client as requested. He wrote me up. I understood why he wrote me up. He asked me to provide a client with information, and I didn't do it. I told him I understood, but wanted him to know that I would never intentionally not take care of something he asked me to do.

The more I thought about it, the more my gut screamed at me that something was very wrong. I would never delete an email from my boss. I would never carelessly disregard his instructions to help a client. I had NO recollection of ever receiving or reading the email he sent to me.

I went to the IT department and asked if it was possible for an internal email not be received by my computer. I was told that was not possible. I thought about it some more, and my gut was still telling me that someone had some splaining to do. I persisted. I ONCE AGAIN asked IT the same question again. This time, I was asked if there were any attachments associated with the email. I said that there were indeed two attached files to the email. I was told that IF an email contained files that were over a certain size, that I would not receive the email.

By this time I was to' up from the flo' up. I was branding myself an incompetent loser, incapable of performing my duties. I can't remember a time when I have felt so badly about myself. I couldn't believe I had been so careless. Yet the other part of me was saying, "Hey, you would not delete an email from The Boss. If you read the email, you most certainly would not disregard it. You would handle a request from a client most promptly".

The IT department sent me a test email containing a large file. I didn't get it. It was lunchtime now, and most employees including my boss were out to lunch. For the first time in my life, I was going to have to go to my boss, and tell him he was wrong. That I in fact, NEVER received the email from him or our client because of the size of the file attached.

The rest of the lunch hour passed slowly as I paced the halls, waiting for him to return. When he returned, I went into his office with my hands shaking. After all, it's never fun to have to point out an error to a superior. I was not looking forward to it, but I was excited at the thought of vindication.

I explained how upset I was over what had transpired this morning. I let him know this was the reason I went to the IT department. I didn't want him to think I was trying to pull anything sneaky. I told him everything I had learned from the IT department, and asked him if he would tear up the "write up" paperwork.

He gruffly said he would and I thanked him. I returned to my desk to attempt to get something accomplished. I heard him come over and ask IT if it was possible not to receive an email because of the size of the attachment. Once this was confirmed, he spoke with the head of the IT department and went back to his office. He called my phone and asked me to come back over. I was thinking, "Great, now I'm in even more trouble". I went over to his office again and he said that he owed me an apology. I told him that I was just relieved to clear my name.

I want to be someone that can be depended on. I want to be the kind of employee that gets things taken care of. I don't want to be the person that constantly needs to be checked after. I felt like this episode would make my boss feel as though I couldn't be counted on to take care of business.

I am so glad that I listened to what my gut instinct was telling me. I am SO GLAD that I didn't just let it go. For me, it wasn't about being right, it was just about clearing my name. I am also glad that I have the kind of boss who will apologize if a mistake is made. I am glad that he listened to what I had to say, and then checked it out for himself. I am VERY glad that I am not an incompetent loser.

Tequila, I really need that tequila now. It's a shame I don't drink......or have any Valium handy. I think I can resume my plans for world domination once again. My credentials have been restored.