After a full day trying to rest the killer-butterflies in my stomach, contemplating on the various better ways to die, other than being decapitated by my Director, the morning came when I had to face it...
The morning started normal, letters to open, queries to answer via fax, apparently only 2 person in my whole office read the article that was published yesterday. They were teasing me for being famous now, but that's the last thing I needed to hear actually. Like the calm before a storm, I hated waiting for the Director to call me in to see her.
The storm came finally at 9am, the Director's PA called me to tell that the Boss wants to see me. at that exact moment I saw my life, all the good times I had since childhood and the sweet memories in service, the nice people that I've met, the things undone in life, the people I still wanted to see, the things I still wanted to say, all flashed before me. Putting down the telephone I walked slowly back to my little cubicle, smiling blankly to my colleagues. If they were to remember me at all, remember my smiling face, I thought.
I have to go through a corridor from the lift to the Director's Office. I have been on this corridor many many times before but it never felt that long before yesterday. I guess that must be how those people who are sentenced to death must feel, walking that final stretch corridor before they're put to death.
The "talk" with the Boss was a humbling experience. Humbling because she didn't spare me by hiding her words with subtleties, she went on to remind me that I am a nobody to come out in the newspaper, doing press releases like that. Plus of course the fact that according to a circular in public service, a government servant is not allowed to talk to the press without a prior approval from the director. Okay for that, I am guilty as charged. Just that I've not seen Noves as a representative of the press, but a friend who got some info over coffee in Starbucks.
The Boss also reminds me that if I cannot, or rather "don't like" to follow the rules, I can always quit Govenrnmrent Service. Twice she made that point. And she also gave me the option of joining the private sector, emphasizing that in the private sector, I can say anything I want to the press.
As a whole, I am just glad to not have disclipinary action taken against me for an un-authorised press conference, while the whole day before I was worried sick that she was going to get me to verify some figures and Ministry policies that could have been a bigger scandal, but she overlooked those.
So, yeah, I learned my lesson in this, but at least Nove's happy that her maiden newspaper publication was out...
The morning started normal, letters to open, queries to answer via fax, apparently only 2 person in my whole office read the article that was published yesterday. They were teasing me for being famous now, but that's the last thing I needed to hear actually. Like the calm before a storm, I hated waiting for the Director to call me in to see her.
The storm came finally at 9am, the Director's PA called me to tell that the Boss wants to see me. at that exact moment I saw my life, all the good times I had since childhood and the sweet memories in service, the nice people that I've met, the things undone in life, the people I still wanted to see, the things I still wanted to say, all flashed before me. Putting down the telephone I walked slowly back to my little cubicle, smiling blankly to my colleagues. If they were to remember me at all, remember my smiling face, I thought.
I have to go through a corridor from the lift to the Director's Office. I have been on this corridor many many times before but it never felt that long before yesterday. I guess that must be how those people who are sentenced to death must feel, walking that final stretch corridor before they're put to death.
The "talk" with the Boss was a humbling experience. Humbling because she didn't spare me by hiding her words with subtleties, she went on to remind me that I am a nobody to come out in the newspaper, doing press releases like that. Plus of course the fact that according to a circular in public service, a government servant is not allowed to talk to the press without a prior approval from the director. Okay for that, I am guilty as charged. Just that I've not seen Noves as a representative of the press, but a friend who got some info over coffee in Starbucks.
The Boss also reminds me that if I cannot, or rather "don't like" to follow the rules, I can always quit Govenrnmrent Service. Twice she made that point. And she also gave me the option of joining the private sector, emphasizing that in the private sector, I can say anything I want to the press.
As a whole, I am just glad to not have disclipinary action taken against me for an un-authorised press conference, while the whole day before I was worried sick that she was going to get me to verify some figures and Ministry policies that could have been a bigger scandal, but she overlooked those.
So, yeah, I learned my lesson in this, but at least Nove's happy that her maiden newspaper publication was out...
1 comment:
I'm sorry the article got you into trouble... lesson learnt.
Well, I guess I kinda made a name for myself writing that article - my Ed asked if I would want to write another feature article this week - but I can't be happy at the expense of someone else getting screwed up.
I'm sorry.
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