"Fun With Neurotics"

I've been telling people this story all week, so I thought I'd share it with whoever comes across this.

We were winding down Monday night when a co-worker asked me, "Have you noticed that I haven't been complaining as much these days?"

I turned my head toward her and said, "I haven't seen you in a week, so I couldn't tell."

Her face perked up and she said with more than a little hint of pride, "Well, I haven't."

I began to look with her with a bit of skepticism and replied, "That's nice. Keep it up."

That's when she tossed me the hanging fastball. "Well, I just want to prove that you all complain as much as I do. You guys complain way more than I do, and most of you do it when you're drinking!!" I couldn't believe the nerve of this woman to feel like she had to lord this over someone. She continued on about how she listens to us bitch about the boss and how the complaints become more vitriolic as we have more alcohol. And this from a neurotic woman who fancies herself as more of an "actress" than a "Cocktail server", the type that is a dime-a-dozen anywhere.

She finally stopped talking so I answered, "Well, you won't be proving your case with that statement, sweetheart." Her face took on a puzzled expression and she asked, "What do you mean?"

"The simple reasoning for your not complaining is itself a complaint," I said.

Now, I like this woman well enough. So well enough that I asked her out a year ago before I knew how insecure and self-absorbed she really was. I think most of us can handle one of the two, but not both. Top those off with her penchant for making snap judgments about people (namely, "You guys drink too much" or "these customers suck because they're not tipping me and I ran fifty dollars of martinis to their table") and she's sometimes unbearable to work with.

She's taking a month off from the job and the floor manager has already said that the job will most likely not be waiting for her when she gets back. I hope that she takes the time off for some serious assessment without intense navel gazing.