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The Slice: Anticipating what you might have missed
Hope you had a great time. Welcome back.
Do you feel rested, refreshed and ready to get after it when you return to work on Monday?
Great. That’s the spirit. Go get ’em. You’ll eat August for breakfast.
There’s just one thing. It’s only natural that you would wonder what has been going on down at the salt mine while you were away. You’ll find out soon enough, of course. But if you wish, you are welcome to borrow Uncle Slice’s approach.
In a nutshell, it’s this: Anticipate bad news.
Then, when you get to work Monday, you won’t be blindsided by some unpleasant change. You will have already girded your loins, so to speak.
But what if you need help envisioning how things at your workplace might have taken a turn for the worse?
Well, I’m here to assist you. Consider the possibility that one or more of these developments might have transpired while you were away.
You have a zany new manager named Skippy and he has some exciting ideas about how he could wreck your work life.
Some heavily scented new person is camped at your desk and has managed to smear hot sauce on all your stuff.
You learn that an intern has been using your phone and when he/she was asked by callers to be connected to you, replied “Who?”
One of your favorite colleagues, a quiet, modest person whose value to the organization is often overlooked, has been invited to pursue challenging new opportunities elsewhere.
Your whole department has a meeting scheduled with an outplacement consultant.
Turns out those rumors about the store being acquired by the Swillmart chain aren’t just rumors.
Your mail slot seems to have disappeared.
OK, that all sounds pretty grim. But I’ll bet none of that will have happened.
Good luck on Monday. Maybe, if there’s a “See me” email waiting for you, it will be about giving you a raise.
Slice answers: “I was born in Portland, Ore., the ‘City of Roses,’ so moving to the Lilac City was a logical move for a flower lover,” wrote Cheri Moore. “Also, after last year’s windstorms, it seems somehow appropriate that I was born in ‘Stumptown’ and now live here.”
In another matter, “Newcomer Hall” would be the perfect name for a freshmen dormitory, said Diane Newcomer.
Today’s Slice question: Who is the most forward-thinking person in Spokane?
Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. There is no Marmot Lodge meeting this week.