I’m pissed off. Well…not royally pissed, but pissed off in a rather amused sort of way (whatever that means). I was not intending to blog about this incident at all, as I figured it to be just another uninteresting skirmish with a colleague in the workplace that deserves nary a mention. However, after I heard from Sam about the thinly veiled threats made by the colleague in question this afternoon, my fury could be contained no longer, and thus this entry.

To cut a long story short, basically that CAD had passed me an e-mail to send out on Monday morning, which technically speaking, I wasn’t even supposed to have received in the first since it was my off-duty day, but did so anyway because Sam, my buddy who was on duty, had matters to attend to outside the office. However, as I have a habit (an admittedly undesirable one) of sleeping in on my off-duty days, I was in a semi-conscious state upon receiving the diskette from that CAD, and ergo, was not in the best of conditions to send it out personally. So, I left it at the computer terminal for Sam to send it out before making my way back to my bed.

Then came Tuesday morning, which was my off-duty day (and needless to say, my sleep-in day). That madman, the CAD, came fuming to my office door asking Sam about the aforesaid e-mail. As fate would have it, I happened to have placed the diskette in a place inconspicuous to the eye of Sam, and that e-mail was not sent. Apparently, the e-mail was extremely urgent (which begs the question: why didn’t he ask about it the day before? Admittedly, that doesn’t absolve me of my responsibility, but casts doubt on the urgency of the e-mail nonetheless), and Sam was given a lashing by him twice at the door, of which the decibel-rating was sufficient to rouse me slightly from my sleep. But of course, those close to me would know that I quickly slipped back into slumber – which proved to be short-lived. As if lambasting Sam was not enough to assuage his wrath, he had Sam pull me out of bed to give me a good rollicking over the phone.

It should be noted at this time that I’ve only had a vague idea of what had transpired in Sam’s unfortunate interactions with that CAD earlier, and was unprepared for what’s to befall me, but it didn’t take me long to find out, albeit with a rather innocuous start to the conversation.

Me: Hello Sir.

(no response)

Me: Hello?

(still no response)

Me: (already quite frustrated from having my sleep disrupted) Hello hello hello?

CAD: Hello?

Me: Hello hello?

Apparently, that idiot had left the phone on speaker mode at a volume which rendered my hellos inaudible to him. Nevertheless, it proved to be no obstacle to the lashing I was about to receive.

CAD: Hello, who is that?

Me: De Rui.

CAD: How come you didn’t send out my mail?

Me: I left it for Sam to send it out. Didn’t he send it out?

CAD: No! I don’t care who is supposed to send it out. You guys better sort things out in there (my office).

Me: Sir, sorry we’ll send out the mail now.

CAD: (still very agitated) Eh, why didn’t you send it out? What is going to happen if Comd or DY ‘effs’ me (for the late submission of the mail)?

Me: Then, I’ll explain to them that it was my fault (this was said in Mandarin). The actual words are: 那就算在我的头上咯。

CAD: What kinda attitude is that? That doesn’t solve matters (or some crap along those lines; I can’t really remember.)

Me: (at this time, already quite exasperated from disrupted sleep and having to entertain a raving lunatic) Sir, what do you want me to do? You can’t expect me to turn back the clock and time travel back to send the mail right?

(More angry words laden with expletives from the CAD that I’ve forgotten follow before the less than pleasant conversation ends.)

I went back to sleep shortly.

When I awoke with greater clarity in my mind, I ruminated on the conversation I had with the CAD, and realised that I was perhaps not as apologetic as I could have been – especially with that last comment. Feeling remorseful, I decided to apologise to him personally the next day (today), when he – supposedly – simmers down.

The apology did not materialize, and it will not materialize, at least not a sincere one. Why? Well…it so happens that over lunch today, that CAD had walked over to Sam (he just seems to have an unfortunate uncanny fate with him) and said to him threateningly, “You’d better tell that De Rui to not let me see him or I’ll fuck him upside down.”

Sheesh! How petty can he get man? It’s only just one un-sent e-mail, and when I checked it was not even as important as he made it out to be. Definitely not something that would make or break his military career, which in itself is inconsequential since I hear he has no intention of extending beyond the 5 years he has contracted himself, but that’s not the point. The issue is the mountain that he’s making out of the molehill (pardon the clichéd phrase). Seriously man, what’s with him? I make one of the rare mistakes in my 15 months here, which he so happens to be a recipient of (for the first time), and there he goes whining like some wuss, and it’s not as if the mistake was of catastrophic proportions. Admittedly, the size (or lack thereof) of the mistake doesn’t absolve me of responsibility. But it’s not like I’m shifting the blame to anyone, or that I’m unwilling to explain things to our superiors should the need arise. I’ve apologized – at least in the earlier part of the abovementioned conversation before my patience wore thin – and proceeded with the remedial measure (which was to send out the mail ASAP). What else does he want? Gee…get over it dude! If I were perfect, you’d be praying to me!

But you know what the most amusing thing is? That CAD can only bark but not bite. Not because he won’t, but he can’t. That’s the perk of my job. I won’t elaborate too much, but my job virtually insulates me from all the usual kinds of punishment that the CAD can dish out to men in lesser positions. The only kind of punishment that I can conceive of – which hurts – would require approval from the higher-ups at my camp; it’s not a punishment he can mete at will.

Ahhh…for all my complaints about the restrictiveness of my job, this is what I love most about it: Immunity from rabid dogs.