Bad Day at Blackrock

Bad day at Blackrock... Daddy used to say that when something went wrong, when Alabama lost a football game, when the Cubs lost, when life in general was not going well. That’s been this week for me.
When the newspaper decided on the redesign, we redid the stock market page as well. Who knew a redesign of the stock market page would change the course of Western Civilization as we know it? I guess these old people just can’t get through the day without finding out if Kapoopsie Fire and Life is up a quarter of a penny per share. And if they can’t find it, they call me and yowl about it. I guess all they have to look forward to every day is that stocks page. And if they’re not howling about the stocks, it’s that the obituaries are in a different section than they used to be. It’s not like we have an index on the front page, which lists all the features in the paper, or anything helpful.
Trouble is, the first person on the phone is obviously the person responsible for the whole mess. The irony is that I probably had less to do with the new design than anyone in the company. Doesn’t matter, though. People feel very free to scream at me, cuss at me, call me names and in general, treat me like garbage because they are disgruntled with the changes and simply must vent their ire on the person who answers the phone. I do have the option of hanging up if they start using profanity, but if not, I have to sit there and take it. Needless to say, my nerves are a little frayed from the abuse I’ve been taking from readers this week.
Then there’s my boss. He is a neat freak, with all its attendant traits. He simply cannot abide any kind of disorder in his little kingdom, a.k.a., the newsroom. Therefore, those of us who are packrats and keep less than pristine desks, drive him nuts. My desk, although undeniably cluttered, is by no means the worst in the room — not by a long shot. It does not hamper my productivity, efficiency, etc., but it’s a problem for him. No matter that I really do need to keep certain things in order to keep track of when they were published. As the boss, he has very little to do, and consequently nothing to keep track of. Therefore, he has no understanding of those of us whose efficiency relies on our paper trails.
If this issue were handled in anything like an adult manner, I could deal with it. However, the boss seems to feel that a condescending, paternalistic (to say nothing of dictatorial) attitude is the best approach. Consequently, he talks to us, adults all, as though we were wayward teens who refuse to clean our rooms. It’s an untenable situation. He feels he simply must micromanage every person on a staff of about 40, which is impossible. We would all be so much happier if we could just do our jobs.
I wish I could quit. I want to walk out right this minute. If I had any other way to pay my bills, I would. If I had another source of insurance, I would. I’d leave and never look back.
That nagging headache is back. It’s been a bad day at Blackrock.