Please don't take this too seriously.

[Ben Kenobi]

You need friends who aren't exes

[Lorizael]

I have a new boss. He likes me and thinks I'm a good worker. He's having me spearhead an effort to clear out our backlog. I am terrified that when I screw up and break down under the pressure, he'll see who I really am and be deeply disappointed. I don't care all that much about his opinion of me, but I do care when people who have power over me see how broken and pathetic I truly am.

[Sava]

I have a new boss. He likes me and thinks I'm a good worker. He's having me spearhead an effort to clear out our backlog. I am terrified that when I screw up and break down under the pressure, he'll see who I really am and be deeply disappointed. I don't care all that much about his opinion of me, but I do care when people who have power over me see how broken and pathetic I truly am.

You should flip out beforehand so your eventual failure stings less.

Try screaming things about Jews and Obama. Nobody will care about a possible screw up then.

[Lorizael]

I'm trying to keep my job at least until the fall semester begins.

[Sava]

Then I fear I will be of no help.

[Lorizael]

He's really gung ho and keeps talking about how **** got done in the Marines. Which is cool and all, except our job consists mostly of typing and tying ribbons.

[The Mad Monk]

YOU CALL THAT A RIBBON SOLDIER? WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD TIE A BOW LIKE THAT?

[Felch]

He's really gung ho and keeps talking about how **** got done in the Marines. Which is cool and all, except our job consists mostly of typing and tying ribbons.

That's what Marines mostly do too.

[Sava]

He's really gung ho and keeps talking about how **** got done in the Marines. Which is cool and all, except our job consists mostly of typing and tying ribbons.

Just don't be the worst or best employee. You'll be fine.

[Lorizael]

Unfortunately, that's not an option. I work in an office of 3, including my boss. My coworker watches the World Cup on his computer all day, so I don't have much competition.

[Sava]

Unfortunately, that's not an option. I work in an office of 3, including my boss. My coworker watches the World Cup on his computer all day, so I don't have much competition.

You could still be the mediocre employee... just not the not-worst or not-best under your boss.

Worst - You - Best

BTW, your boss has only two people reporting to him?

Or are you referring to the number of people there just today/right now?

[Lorizael]

On an entirely unrelated note, my one and only recreational activity (boardgames with my gaming group) has become increasingly unpleasant now that my ex and her boyfriend are always there. He's a perfectly nice guy who seems to like me just fine. (Actually, he's kind of a jerk to everyone else, but not in a way that bothers me beyond the fact that he's being a jerk to my friends.) But being there with the two of them in the house I used to live in and watching them be cute and realizing that he knows all the little details of her life that are now foreign to me is ****ing excruciating. I'm not sure that I can do it anymore. Which kind of sucks. I can still make her laugh. When we first started dating, she was surprised by my sense of humor. She expected me to be this super serious guy. And I can definitely be that, but I could always make her laugh, too. And I still can. Nothing has changed, goddammit. I had this wonderful relationship that I deliberately disassembled because of some **** about me not wanting children or something. Now I have to live in some crazy biazzro world where she lives in the same house and does the same things and still has a gamer boyfriend but it's not me.

[Lorizael]

You could still be the mediocre employee... just not the not-worst or not-best under your boss.

Worst - You - Best

BTW, your boss has only two people reporting to him?

Or are you referring to the number of people there just today/right now?

Yeah, it's a tiny office of 3 contractors in the vast gray cube that is FDA HQ. There are FDA people we also work with, but in my office it's just me, my boss, and my coworker.

[Ben Kenobi]

I had this wonderful relationship that I deliberately disassembled because of some **** about me not wanting children or something.

Wasn't my advice to you, not to do this, Lorizael? And certainly not at the instigation of this friend?

[Sava]

Yeah, it's a tiny office of 3 contractors in the vast gray cube that is FDA HQ. There are FDA people we also work with, but in my office it's just me, my boss, and my coworker.

I'm not aware of any of the FDA's hierarchy. It does seem highly inefficient to have one person supervising two people at that level.

(my minor was organizational leadership)