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20 September 2006

Name Series Part 3 - Wendy


Wendy I

My apologies to all future Wendys for the last one that I've encountered was such a nightmare. She may not be the main reason I quit my Tuas job but she certainly was the trigger that kill the camel with the straw-broken back.

It all dates back to 1996. I started work in Tuas the very Monday after my last paper. I was in Corporate Comms and she was in Billing. Admittedly, she was one of the better looking gals in there but there was something about her that wasn't quite right. I was the new guy and well wishers have been dropping hints here and there warning me against her. I didn't pay much attention to all the whisperings nor her. We were in different business units and I was having too much fun doing my stuff and being really good at it. It wasn't often that we get to do what we love. I was creating. From corporate global website to newsletters to directories to marketing kits.

Anyway, it was obvious I was shining brightly when I was poached to head the Marketing department of another business unit. 3 months later, I added the Operations Department to my portfolio following the unfortunately passing of my predecessor. This is when I came into full contact with her professionally. That was when I finally get the opportunity to know her up close and personal (with much regret).

She is a real piece of work as I received numerous complaints against her for quarreling with the customers. It was a time when the Customer Services Manager went on maternity leave that I had to cover her department as well. So here's the awful thing. I have to take nasty phone calls from users (Customer Services) lodging formal complaints against her. After that, I have visit the customer's corporate head office (marketing - accounts management) for another dressing down. By right, she would have been fired right away but strangely each and every time she escaped unscathed.

Finally, it was all revealed to me. She was the mistress of my boss. The almighty GM whom I report directly to. The GM is somebody who I admired a lot. Armed with just a Primary 6 education, he worked his way from PSA coolie to warehouse forklift driver to GM with a nice company car to boot. My GM has always treated me like a younger brother and I am thankful for that till this very day.

Reluctantly, like many of my other colleagues before me, I too had to look the other way as a gesture of giving Tai Kor face.

I was thinking that if she put in more effort into her job (which to be honest is not bad), we would all be working together happily. Somehow her stuck-up attitude is like an extra piece of sandpaper. Unnecessary friction. Most of the time, I just put up with her while avoiding any kind of confrontation.

Fast forward to June 1999. I was tasked to head the Y2K compliance projects of the Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore offices. She was roped into my Singapore team and I had to spend even more time enduring her tantrums.

First, there was a lot of data to migrate to the next system. Second, we have a deadline to complete the project. Year 2000 wasn't going to wait for us to complete our migration. Third, I was heading 3 teams concurrently. Fourth, she was damn difficult to work with but I can't boot her out on account that she was my Tai Kor's woman.

It was sheer hell then. I was caught in the middle between my GM's kindness at the top and her insubordination at the bottom. I was so burnt out that I drafted my resignation letter and saved to my harddisk, waiting to be printed the moment my Y2K projects were completed.

 Then the "incident" occurred. We have a pool of network printers but among them was a line printer that was capable of printing several hundreds of lines per minute. It was a very expensive printer and as such we only had one. Hence, the chance to use it is precious commodity as all of us had much to print.

It just so happened that fateful day where I sent a print job, by mistake to the line printer instead of a regular printer. It just so happened that fateful day that the errant print job of mine cut hers in the printing queue. She came storming into the printing room all ballistics. I apologised for my mistake and cleared the printer queue for her.

She continued on her tirade and finally crossed the line with the magic word.

BASTARD.

I could have sworn I heard a small "poof" at the back of my head. Must have been the blown fuse. I headed back to my PC and printed the letter. Signed it. Dropped on my GM's desk and took the rest of the day off.

I returned to the office the next day and was called into my GM's office with her sitting on one of the chairs ready to apologise.

Apology not accepted as I handed in my leave form. I was out of there in a week.

Years later, I bumped into her at Mohd Sultan. It was her birthday or so I was told by my ex-colleagues who were there to celebrate. Expecting me to wish her a happy birthday, I instead, just gave her a cold stare that would bore 2 holes right through the back of her head and return Earth back to the ice-age. I turned around and walk away laughing. It was a good night.

Admittedly, she was one of the better looking gals in there but there was something about her that wasn't quite right. 

Then I realised what's wrong. She was fugly on the inside.

Also,....
.... her perfume stinks.

Image Credit: http://adweek.blogs.com; http://ed-thelen.org

- Voxeros


1. akk left...
Wednesday, 20 September 2006 9:10 am
are there stories of gals who, because they are beautiful inside, look beautiful to you over time? it would seem that most men do take the face value first, then start eroding a female character based on personality, like this one....

So...have you met any gal who impressed upon you just by having beautiful heart lungs and kidneys? what's her/their names?


2. JayWalk left...
Wednesday, 20 September 2006 12:37 pm :: 
Akk: Oh yes. Most definitely but that would an entry somewhere down the road. Stay tuned.


3. xcake left...
Wednesday, 20 September 2006 3:44 pm :: http://xcake.blogspot.com
I really the "name" entries (especially with the non-related media images here and there. heheh.)

Thanks for the video link though. I hope I never get to meet that kind of person. The Korean super-nerd in my class is by far the nerdiest person I've met so far, even beating my sec 1 smart-alec classmate who cut off a girl's ponytail on the first day of high school just for FUN...


4. JayWalk left...
Wednesday, 20 September 2006 9:04 pm :
xcake: I have a quite a few series to offer. Click Here
I had a junior who cut off a girls "tail" and he was in NTU! Fool!


5. xcake left...
Saturday, 23 September 2006 1:45 pm :: http://xcake.blogspot.com
No wonder my sister said that NTU is filled with all kinds of freaks. mahahaha. She hated it there and left her dorm without fail EVERY SINGLE weekend.


6. JayWalk left...
Saturday, 23 September 2006 2:08 pm ::
xcake: I am a bit lost here coz Wendy was a colleague and not from NTU. Perhaps you have misread this entry or is this particular comment meant for another entry?


7. xcake left...
Saturday, 23 September 2006 2:23 pm :: http://xcake.blogspot.com
No, I meant people who go around cutting girls' hair for fun XD It doesn't have any relation to your colleague Wendy. Anyway, most of my friends chose NTU over NUS, so I don't think it's that bad (right?) but my sister insisted that it was hell. -_-"


8. JayWalk left...
Saturday, 23 September 2006 2:36 pm :: 
xcake: Oh. My bad. Sorlie.
Anyway, NTU not that bad lah. Would have been better if she has me in NTU with her. *shameless*

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