I have to admit that watching someone else experience hell that I’ve been through puts a smile on my face. Knowing that it’s not just me who gets stressed, angry and frustrated is such a good feeling.
The particular instance of hell I’m referring to today is a new staff member preparing to submit documents to the Labour Department in Thailand to get a work permit. The process itself isn’t actually that complicated but the MD likes to get his wife to ‘do’ it to save money. By my emphasis of ‘do’ you should guess that she doesn’t actually do anything other than turning up occasionally and running around like a chook with its head cut off. All the work, other than actually going to the Labour Department, is done by our staff and even then she doesn’t always do that.
I don’t know how many times she has asked me to be available early in the morning to do something and wouldn’t turn up. Like all Thai’s, the work permits/visas of foreigners are nto treated with any kind of importance, because they don’t understand how simple a matter it is to lose your ability to stay here.
The MD’s wife and I have butted heads a few times because she is a person who likes to be involved but unfortunately she has a habit of making everything far more complicated than it needs to be. She also has a pretty bad habit of badmouthing the MD to staff but she has at least learnt to not say such things to me. She also discusses her personal issues with the MD much less than previously most of the time. Let me tell you though, there was things between her and I were very tense.
As I was saying, she likes to be involved. The problem is that not only does she barely have any clue about what she tends to get involved in, she tends to go on a bit of a power trip. There have been times when she would tell me that the MD had given her the authority to do something and I would look at her in a “do I look like I care?” way. I mean, it’s such a bizzare thing to say and besides, those who have authority need not speak of it.
About six months ago we were looking to hire another staff for accounting and the MD mentioned to me that his wife had been bothering him about the possibility of her filling the position. Obviously I didn’t want that and was curious about why he didn’t tell her there wasn’t any way in the world she would or could be considered for the position. He had told her that if she wanted the position she’d have to speak with me and have an interview! Luckily she didn’t speak to me before we hurriedly found someone.
Some people enjoy office drama and I have to admit it would have been far less interesting at work without her, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a little less of it. At least she hasn’t cried at the office for a while.
