February 22, 2010

SBMS-A Real Syndrome, A Real Problem

I once worked for a very cranky man who suffered from short bald man's syndrome. It was not a pleasant time in my life. In addition to suffering from SBMS, he also had a real problem with chauvinism and thought that if you were a girl and working for him, then it was perfectly ok for him to run his hand up the back of your leg. Man, how I wish I had known how to do a good back kick back in the day.

The other day, I was at the club, helping Big I with homework and finishing up the last couple bites of my dinner after putting in an 8 hour day of working on the new bar area, when I was approached by a man with this syndrome, except add "fat" to it which mulitplies the problem ten-fold. In addition to SFBMS, he also had a problem with close-talking.

I happen to despise close talkers. It's probably because of the night that Hanshi spent a great deal of time talking about proper distancing and what to do with your hands when someone is coming at you aggressively. I like my space and you'll probably notice me backing up to reestablish my space if you're getting too close to me.

This particular man approached me, stood too close and said "You're on the board right?" and then proceeded to act like I had said or done something to ignite his temper despite the fact that he was upset about things that had happened before I was even born. He ranted about craziness for quite some time and I listened respectfully while also playing a whole lot of Devil's Advocate with him. He reminded me he voted for me as if he was the only one who had; I reminded him that a lot of other people did too.

It is becoming very clear to me, why some board members don't spend much time at the club. It is absolutely impossible to have a quick conversation with someone while there. It is impossible to eat your dinner without interruption.

I am wondering what this summer will be like, when I'm spending my time at the pool with the girls. Will I be bombarded with craziness all summer long too? Will I be able to enjoy any time with my family without having to discuss issues related to the board?

I am quickly approaching becoming the not-so-nice version of myself that is going to tell people to put it in writing and send me an email instead of taking up my time with my family. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm already there.