The origins of schadenfreude

[Elok]

I was the only person in my department who worked "late" tonight (until 8PM). Around 5:30 or thereabouts, our office manager came around and noticed this little fact, and promptly had a cow; there should be at least two people there at all times. Since there was nobody there but me to yell at, and I didn't make the decision, she didn't give me any grief. But she let it be known that she was not happy, and as she walked away I felt a weird urge to smirk or giggle-somebody's gonna catch it now!

Then I wondered, why? I like my two supervisors. Possible explanations I've thought up:

-I'm just a nasty SOB, as is anyone else who would feel such things
-These are my feelings of resentment at being the only person left running the show, coming to the surface in disguise
-My relief at escaping a screaming-at is manifesting itself in a weird way
-Humor is associated with discomfort, and that was an edgy situation
-Some combination of the above (I'm leaning towards the last three now)

Do you ever feel vague glee at somebody else's misfortune? What's your theory on the matter?

[Asher]

Do you ever feel vague glee at somebody else's misfortune? What's your theory on the matter?

Why do you think I read your posts?

[Elok]

Well, I knew you were an SOB. It's your raison d'etre.

[SlowwHand]

Maybe it's because other people who don't care enough make things harder for everyone else and you're tired of it.

[Elok]

Nah, see, I don't mind it that much. I actually like working late (it syncs better with my wife's schedule), I only felt a little peeved that I had nobody to ask for advice, and I don't know all the ropes. We all work the same number of hours, the others just started and ended sooner than I did.

[SlowwHand]

I didn't mean the hours. I meant the reason someone was being sought.

[Elok]

I'm not sure I'm reading you right, but she wasn't actually looking for anyone in our department, she just happened to walk by and notice I was alone there.

[Asher]

Are you guys doing really dangerous data entry or something? Why the rule of pairs?

[SlowwHand]

It's not just the work. What if someone had a medical emergency? A heart attack, for instance?

[ZEE]

i feel better about myself after reading this thrade

[Elok]

Are you guys doing really dangerous data entry or something? Why the rule of pairs?

It's just a standard census policy, it doesn't have to make sense (which is good, since census policy rarely makes sense). I personally want the more experienced people around for that reason: the rules are so arcane and convoluted that I hate guessing what to do, since I'm likely to guess wrong.

[Cort Haus]

2

[Cort Haus]

Proper schadenfreude is when a big sporting rival gets knocked out of a major competition.

[Boris Godunov]

I'm just now about to go home after 13.5 hours in the office. End of quarter always sucks like this. Of course, I wasted a bit of time here today, so am partially to blame.

Cat's gonna be irked.

But no resentment on my part for being here so late. Like you say, it actually is fine for my schedule and I actually like having the place to myself.

[KrazyHorse]

Is that supposed to be a long day or something? I worked from 8 to 11 today just because I was having fun.