“hey, got a minute?... I can’t get the apple logo off the screen of my iPhone.”
“That’s because its backwards. It’s okay, Pender...everyone does that.”
I cringe every time I hear that question out of Pender’s mouth. At 53, his anger arrives in a flash, yet he insists on owning devices that frustrate him. “Got a minute” is his code for: “I have been stumped by this electronic device; now I feel insecure about my age and stupid that I must ask for help. In order to maintain my appearance of calm, you must make up an excuse that both exonerates me and places the blame squarely on the software developer.”
This is the guy who volunteered to take a picture for a couple wearing Packers jerseys on Navy Pier so he could toss their camera into Lake Michigan and tell them their team sucked. He continually points out spelling errors, mocking people who fail to follow the “-end in friend” rule. Waitresses pour drinks in his lap, and nursing mothers call him a pervert. Our office cleaning lady forks the evil eye and spits at him; and he is no longer allowed inside the Brookfield Zoo after trying to fight a Kangaroo. He can’t download an email attachment, is repeatedly confused by the three boxes in the upper right right corner of his screen, and often hits “reply all” with inappropriate comments about other people in his email chains. He’s a real-life Michael Scott, minus the good intentions.
We shared an office for a few years with six other consultants looking to establish an legitimate mailing address. Pender’s name was supposedly on the lease, and he appointed himself the de facto office manager for a group who neither needed nor wanted office management. For a while no one minded, until someone brought in brownies on a random Wednesday.
If you’re familiar with a gluten-free diet, you know that consuming wheat flour can land a person in the hospital. But not consuming it can also land a person in the hospital, when the person not consuming it starts throwing insults and punches at the well-intentioned baker. Pender’s anger led to six stitches above his left eye and a broken Keurig, and no question that he resents both his celiac and feeling excluded from the group. Several consultants moved out, replaced by three new freelancers who looked puzzled upon receiving my warning to never feed the bear.
Last week, the other tenants decided not to sign a new lease until they’d made a new arrangement with our property manager. With all of the interpersonal struggles surrounding Pender, it may be tempting to think he is aware of the problem, but he is not. He’s the product of a dysfunctional home, was never coached to play well with others, and continually plays the wounded victim role to his advantage. Yet if you ask him, Pender genuinely believes all the blame can placed at another pair of feet, and that he is always in the clear.
Recently, a cop friend told me that in all the times he’s interviewed people after an accident, he’s never heard a person include themselves in their crash stories. He hears “the other guy cut me off,” or “she just came out of nowhere,” or “they jumped out right in front of me,” but never hears someone admit their own part in being distracted. For all the words which could be chosen, the most difficult remain the ones which provide a measure of grace to the other party involved.
