Skip to main content

Mind in the Gutter 2

I have a quirky sense of humor, so I will usually give people a wide berth when it comes to oddball comments. This sometimes leads to some questionable conversations. Most of the time, it's fine. I play along, we all share some laughs, and we call it good. Sometimes, though, these types of conversations blindside me with shenanigans that can get me in trouble. The ones at work are the worst, since I have to mind my p's and q's then.

Of course, knowing my luck, I've been seeing a sharp increase in the latter kind lately. And the worst part of it all is that it's largely due to a single person. She's out to get me, I tell you. It's not even like I spend every day chatting this person up, so this is all coming from a relatively small sample size. I repeat, I think she's out to get me.

Now, I know you're probably thinking that I'm exaggerating. Or maybe you suspect that I am partially to blame for this. Somehow, I should be doing more, or saying less. I assure you, this is not the case. I am a blameless victim in all of this. But my pleadings likely won't convince you of much, so why don't we let the evidence speak for itself? In chronological order, I've had all of the following exchanges with this person in the last few weeks:
  • Her: "Oh, I found a new web site for podcasts. It's [URL], if you're interested."
    Me: "Interesting. Of course, you had to send me to a website with a banner saying 'Sex Matters' on it, didn't you?"
    Her: "Hm, you're right. It's actually [URL]/[some directory]. You have to go deeper." *chuckle*

    That exchange had a few things to it, so let's take them one at a time. First, she followed up on an earlier conversation by sending to a site that very likely could have run me afoul of the work filter. She wasn't even looking at that URL, since she was apparently browsing some corner of it. Already, this was taking a turn for the worse.

    Then, she followed it up with an explanation with a double entendre about sex thrown in. I know she chuckled, because she told me as much. So, not only did she try to set me up in the first place, but even the explanation was an attempt to make things even more questionable.

    What did I do wrong in this instance? Nothing. I just opened up a URL that a friend sent me. Next thing you know, I'm tempting the work filter and trying to avoid saying something that would get me in trouble. Devious.
  • (We'd both gotten an email about the dangers of pellets that weigh down document holders. Under very specific/unlucky circumstances, they can spill in to outlets and cause short circuits)
    Her: "Oh, that reminds me, I have to tape up my document holder. Have to watch out for those leaky balls."

    I didn't even say anything this time. I just read some emails. A response like that is just begging for a non-PC response, though. C'mon, you know it. If this were anything other than work, you'd reply with a joke. But no, I can't do that when this person sends it over the work email system.

    Put it this way, this story came up at a recent lunch, and the other person's jaw just flat out dropped when he heard the punch line. This was followed by a laugh a split second later, and a split second after that, he cracked a joke. Still, I  had to keep my mouth shut. By this point, though, I started to suspect that she was taunting me.
  • Her: "You want a cookie?"
    Me: "No thanks, I've got an apple with my name on it."
    Her: "Okay. I've got a banana that needs some loving"
    Her: "Wait, that sounded wrong"

    Like I said the last time I did a post like this, this particular item happened over the work communicator. Also like the last time, it probably would have been fine if she hadn't done the verbal equivalent of waving her hands and pointing at the potentially questionable comment. Once she did that, though, my fate was sealed. I couldn't very well respond with any kind of comment, much less a joke, after that, could I?

    And by this point, I knew darn well that she had laughed after that last comment. I'm pretty sure she was trying to turn things in a R-rated direction where I couldn't say anything. Needless to say, this earned a non-comment from me.
  Given all of this, though, I've decided that I have to be careful around this person. Either that, or I need to devise some means of getting even. Any and all ideas are welcome, of course.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New York City Trip (Day 3)

By the third day of the trip, I was tired enough from the previous day's adventures/subway rides that I felt like sleeping in. And sleep in I did. I think I woke up at something like 11:30 or noon. Of course, that meant that a later start to the day, which started the vicious cycle all over again. By the time we rolled into Manhattan, it was about two in the afternoon. I had tentatively set aside Sunday to see something on Broadway, so we headed over to the tkts booth for discount tickets. There were actually various 3PM options, and after mulling our options, we figured it'd be a good idea to catch one of those. We settled on The Toxic Avenger , which was actually an off-Broadway option. However, we hadn't eaten yet, and the show started about 15 minutes after we got our tickets. Enter the food carts. There happened to be one right outside the theater, and the guy charged a little bit of a premium for the convenience. Still, I was hungry, and I had yet to try...

Backlog

I am an information junkie. Always have been. I'm one of those people that cares far more about the storyline in a video game than the actual game play. At work, I will spend time researching things related to solved problems, because I want to know exactly why it failed in the first place. And if someone learns something new, I want to go see what it's about, because I want to know what they know. I know it's not exactly the average outlook on life, but it is what it is. Anyhow, this mentality leads to my habit of tracking various websites, blogs, and other internet web sources to keep my information flow constant. Doing all of this manually is tedious at best, though, so I use Google Reader  to organize all of these feeds. It just makes things simpler to have a single source of RSS feeds, so that I can quickly browse through items related to my interests. Given all of that, it should come as no surprise that I also try to keep up with my feeds on a regular basis. I ...

Sick Days 2

I've mentioned before that getting sick is a source of amusement for me, largely because of the kids and the reactions I get from people at work. Well, it looks like I underestimated just how much laughter illness can cause. Yup, the whole process of getting sick managed to generate some (mild) amusement. First of all, my brother got a pretty bad case of strep throat, so he had to miss some time at work. He is also around kids quite a bit, so it's not uncommon for one of those "vectors of infection" he works with to get him sick in some way, shape, or form. In this case, he managed to contract a case of strep throat. His supervisor, however, was far more concerned about the work schedule than the fact that he had a really high fever and could not keep himself out of bed. She said she was going to make him come in later that day (to which he roughly said, "you're not understanding. I cannot come in to work today."), and then she insisted on a doctor...