Negative Nancy

Have you ever had to work with someone who is always negative? For whatever reason, there is always someone who is the Negative Nancy of the office. Why does it have to be like that?

Most of the people in my current office are friendly, and laid back. We all politely say good morning, how are you and joke around with each other on a daily basis. Some of the girls I work with are super nice, and I enjoy taking my lunch with them often. (Almost daily!)

Then there is this one person in our office, "Negative Nancy". She has a HORRIBLE attitude all the time. Anything she is asked to do is a huge ordeal. She sighs and grunts and acts like you just gave her some terrible, horrible human torture project to work on. When she is filing, or just grabbing something from the supply room...she cusses and fusses. I have never heard such unprofessional language in all my life. It is one thing when you say something in good fun, but a completely different story when you do it in a disruptive and disrespectful manner.

Have you ever noticed that when you dislike someone, you get to a point that everything they do bothers you?

This is pretty much where I am at. I am usually very friendly, and always try to be as helpful as I can. This is in my personal life, as well as my professional life. I have always been tagged with "the nice one." A push over even. So, it takes A LOT to really piss me off and loose my complete respect. Well, this person has lost it with me. I find myself rolling my eyes and sighing when I hear her commotion from my office. When I come in first thing in the morning, I don't even bother to say good morning to her anymore. She never responds to me, why bother. I hear her on the phone complaining about every last person in this office to people, people who stick up for her all the time. It is just a matter of time before all her ugly bitterness bites her in the ass. No one wants someone who is like that EVERY SINGLE DAY. I feel horrible for some of my co-workers who have to share office space with her. I notice they tend to be more negative when she is around. 

I say all this to say, sometimes we need to be reminded to be grateful for the things we do have. Let's face it, the economy sucks. It is hard to find a job, yet alone one you LOVE. Do I love being someone's assistant, hell to the no. However, I am very very thankful that I have a job with great benefits. It pays the bills and feeds my dogs. When I am asked to do something, I do it without giving someone an attitude. If it was super fun, it wouldn't be called work. Your attitude can be contagious, whether it is good or bad. Everyone has bad days, and that is OK. I myself am not rainbows and butterflies 24/7. However, I try to remember that I can effect the people around me, just as they can effect me. 

You never know what may be going on in someone's life. They could be dealing with a loss, a health problem, relationship issues. You just don't know. I always try to smile and be nice, because I expect the same from others. Sometimes you have to make the decision to remove yourself from the negativity before it swallows you.