Bonus Post: From the Kap-files #20

From the Kap-files #20:

[Quick reminder about this countdown ... in 20 calendar days, my position is being eliminated at my job, and so I'm looking back through my files, mental or otherwise, representing nearly 11 years with the company ...]

#20: Ever-present on my bulletin board above my desk workspace in the center in Lincoln Park (regardless of which desk), was *this* advertisement.  It was NOT a reminder to get the rug cleaned at our location (although it did always seem like it was in need of a thorough scrubbing, particularly in front of the vending machine that would spit out the sodas at high speed, all but guaranteeing that they'd "explode" upon being opened), but instead its placement was to honor an interaction with a particular instructor.  In true "blind item" fashion, I won't say his name, but only his initials ... JS.

Those two letters, interestingly enough, became self-fulfilling as he once accosted our office staff with pay raise demands, claiming that he had been our "Jonny on the Spot" whenever he was asked to do anything (aka ... he accepted his work assignments when assigned to him).  His prickly personality reappeared in a classic exchange regarding how rude it was for us to require him to complete a training program that only worked on Internet Explorer (as opposed to Java ... or maybe Sun ... or maybe those are the same thing?).  I won't reprint all of that email (you'll have to wait for the book to come out for that), but it did include these two sentences from me to him:

"You shan't be spared from a response that comes phrased in my own style of communication.  [As we don't know each other that well, I lack the ability to temper my words to meet any preconceived expectations of our collegial discussions.]"

AND ...

"To be honest, though, I've never delved into that pit of technical jargon to really have a full and complete appreciation of the sacrifices one is forced to make by not belonging to the Microsoft Majority."

Here's to the memory of all the Jonnys on all the spots out there!