In the doghouse You've heard about Hobbette, but you haven't heard about another one of my co-workers who rivals Hobbette in terms of having "issues", if she isn't quite as colourful. Let's call this woman MadKat (yes, I misspent hours of my youth watching Inspector Gadget).→[More:]

MadKat is rather tightly wound. I sit next to her with just a partition dividing us, and I hear her going into meltdown and yelling at someone on the phone about once a week. One classic was the time she had intense negotiations with her husband (whom I've met, and who is a pleasant, warm and friendly man) as to who was to pick up a box of Hamburger Helper on the way home from work (i.e., "Are you going to pick up the Hamburger Helper? Well?! Are you going to? Are you going to pick up the Hamburger Helper?!!"). She occasionally loses it and screams at some of my co-workers. There's also a story about how she slapped someone from IT once.

Yesterday I heard MadKat on the phone with her husband complaining about how angry and resentful she was because "they" forgot her birthday. "It costs nothing to send an email!" she kept saying. She wrapped up the conversation by twice telling him she wasn’t going to give a "fucking shit about it anymore" and slamming down the phone. I thought she must mean some of their close friends or family had forgotten.

Then I saw that she had put a public service announcement in her inbox:

Today (Feb 15th) was my birthday.

AND WHO REMEMBERED IT?!!!!!!!

Oh well, someone did…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!!

She taped this notice to her computer screen before going home for the weekend. I guess my co-workers and I are the ones in the doghouse.

Before you conclude we are all being mean to MadKat, let me just say that in my office we don't make a practice of remembering anyone's birthdays. Thinking back to last August, I'm pretty sure no one remembered mine — and I'm positive MadKat didn't — and that it never occurred to me to mind. I only know the birthdates of a few of my co-workers with whom I am the most chummy. And before you amend your conclusion to think we're all generally cold and uncaring, let me say my office does throw parties and/or buy group gifts for occasions like weddings, births, deaths and leave-takings. MadKat had a baby a few years ago and we had a party for her.

One of my coworkers regretted that he didn't have his camera at work with him so he could take a picture to submit to site. One of my friends suggested I make the public service notice quietly disappear during MadKat's next trip to the bathroom, but fun as that it would be it wouldn't be worth having to listen to the screaming.