Not Being the Nice Guy (split from Random Rants OA)

[Broken_Erika]

It was the least "officey" job I could think of at the time.

Chip kid at a machine shop?(the one who cleans up steel shavings. I had that job once, it was either that or fast food or retail, both of which required interacting with people....)

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Chip kid at a machine shop?(the one who cleans up steel shavings. I had that job once, it was either that or fast food or retail, both of which required interacting with people....)

That would work, but notice that you had to explain "chip kid," where everyone but @Manfred Belheim understood "ditch digger" without having to consult the urban dictionary.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

If someone is even having to consider going to HR to complain that someone is sending unauthorised emails of a sexual nature to other members of staff from their computer, then ...

...perhaps they will get the point about leaving their computer unsecured.

Fixed that for you. You seem to have been so busy grinding some axe that you forgot what the conversation was actually about.

 

[Mise]

...perhaps they will get the point about leaving their computer unsecured.

Fixed that for you. You seem to have been so busy grinding some axe that you forgot what the conversation was actually about.

Absolutely pathetic. A post-it note, a quiet word, or any of the harmless pranks suggested in this thread (@Broken_Erika's suggestions have gone sadly unnoticed IMO) would do the same, without the immaturity, illegality, idiocy and hypocrisy of your "prank". Grow up.

The fact that "I should be allowed to send unauthorised sexually suggestive emails from another person's professional email account and be applauded for my commitment to computer security" is the hill you're willing to die on speaks volumes.

 

[Lexicus]

Absolutely pathetic. A post-it note, a quiet word, or any of the harmless pranks suggested in this thread (@Broken_Erika's suggestions have gone sadly unnoticed IMO) would do the same, without the immaturity, illegality, idiocy and hypocrisy of your "prank". Grow up.

The fact that "I should be allowed to send unauthorised sexually suggestive emails from another person's professional email account and be applauded for my commitment to computer security" is the hill you're willing to die on speaks volumes.

Dude....lighten up

 

[Broken_Erika]

Pegasus Barbie Desktop Theme FTW!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Absolutely pathetic. A post-it note, a quiet word, or any of the harmless pranks suggested in this thread (@Broken_Erika's suggestions have gone sadly unnoticed IMO) would do the same, without the immaturity, illegality, idiocy and hypocrisy of your "prank". Grow up.

LOL...maybe in the post it note, which would generally just be immediately forgotten and ineffective, if I make an arrogant pretense of superior maturity they would keep it as a reminder...of what a fool I had made of myself.

 

[Commodore]

LOL...maybe in the post it note, which would generally just be immediately forgotten and ineffective,

The note wouldn't be ineffective if you also followed it up with a report to management about the cybersecurity risk you noticed. Then the coworker in question would probably see the note once they return to their workstation after being thoroughly reprimanded by management. The note would then serve as a reminder of the butt-chewing they just got and reinforce the idea that they should double-check their workstation before leaving it unattended.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The note wouldn't be ineffective if you also followed it up with a report to management about the cybersecurity risk you noticed. Then the coworker in question would probably see the note once they return to their workstation after being thoroughly reprimanded by management. The note would then serve as a reminder of the butt-chewing they just got and reinforce the idea that they should double-check their workstation before leaving it unattended.

And conveniently identify the office rat. Great idea Commodore. Offices with a rat that don't know who the rat is sink into a swamp of paranoia. Offices where the rat has been identified enjoy the camaraderie of a joint purpose...increasing the misery of the office rat until they are driven off. Even after the rat has been dispatched the positive effects linger for a long time. Very noble of you to sacrifice yourself like that for the greater good.

 

[Commodore]

And conveniently identify the office rat.

Who said anything about identifying yourself in such a situation? You don't have to put your name on the note and management is under no obligation to reveal who ratted someone out. In fact, management has a vested interest in keeping a snitch's identity a secret. Doing so would encourage the snitch to keep reporting on policy violations.

Offices with a rat that don't know who the rat is sink into a swamp of paranoia.

The only people that get paranoid are the ones that aren't doing their job correctly and are worried their incompetence will be discovered. Do your job right and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Arakhor]

Do your job right and you have nothing to worry about.

I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment, but that is the watchword of every authoritarian society ever.

 

[Lexicus]

The only people that get paranoid are the ones that aren't doing their job correctly and are worried their incompetence will be discovered. Do your job right and you have nothing to worry about.

I mean bro. We have an office rat here in my office, who threatened to get one of my friends fired last week. It has absolutely nothing to do with incompetence, he just hates everyone, we think probably because he hates himself.

 

[Commodore]

I mean bro. We have an office rat here in my office, who threatened to get one of my friends fired last week. It has absolutely nothing to do with incompetence, he just hates everyone, we think probably because he hates himself.

But does this person actually have the ability to get your friend fired? I mean, I can make all sorts of threats to all sorts of people, but if I don't actually have the ability to follow through on those threats they mean absolutely nothing.

And if I were your friend, I'd snitch on the snitch. Your friend should tell management this person is threatening him and creating a hostile work environment. You can even back your friend up on it. Multiple reports about someone's behavior makes it more likely management will take action against that person.

 

[Lexicus]

But does this person actually have the ability to get your friend fired?

He is not our supervisor, though he seems to think he is (he has several years' seniority over both of us but that doesn't mean he tells us what to do). He probably did have the ability, by "taddling" about something made up, to the people who really are in charge of us, but since he overplayed his hand, bosses were informed of the threat and now I'm sure he won't be able to do anything at all.

And if I were your friend, I'd snitch on the snitch. Your friend should tell management this person is threatening him and creating a hostile work environment. You can even back your friend up on it. Multiple reports about someone's behavior makes it more likely management will take action against that person.

My friend informed our boss of the threat as soon as it happened. We didn't go any further than that and my office has no formal system for filing complaints against other employees that I'm aware of. We work in a "special" department (Special is literally in the name) of our employer, so it's not totally clear what our status/place within the organization is, which usually works to our advantage but not always. Anyway, since we're not jerks, we don't want to get this coworker fired, just talked to about being nicer to his coworkers. Sadly he has such a bad attitude that I think it is likely he will have to be fired to solve this problem.

Anyway my point in bringing this up is that the idea that only incompetent people have anything to worry about is nonsense. Office politics are a thing, as much as we don't want them to be. And it doesn't really help anyone for everyone to be paranoid and stressed-out even about legitimately important things like securing your computer terminal.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Who said anything about identifying yourself in such a situation?

Keep in mind that everyone here already made a blanket assumption that knowledge of who sent the e-mail would be instantly distributed to every person for miles around, so the idea of this post-it note being successfully anonymous is a surprising change of direction.

But, to be technical...

First, I have very distinctive penmanship, which would be a challenge to disguise. Post it notes are hard to type, and they really aren't big enough for the old 'clip words and letters out of magazines and paste them' method.

Second, as I already pointed out from the other side... When the person realizes something happened dictates when they ask their neighbors about it. With the e-mail, if you are smart, that means asking 'hey, did you see someone messing with my computer last Tuesday?' and likely getting no useful answers. With a post it note upon return from HR the question would be "Look at this note! Did you see who left this POS?" Someone almost certainly did, and not only the victim knows who the rat is, but EVERYONE knows who the rat is.

Once again, it is really noble of you to be willing to provide such a focal point for office unity. Unless of course it isn't intentional and you just really have no understanding of human nature at all.

 

[Synobun]

The note wouldn't be ineffective if you also followed it up with a report to management about the cybersecurity risk you noticed. Then the coworker in question would probably see the note once they return to their workstation after being thoroughly reprimanded by management. The note would then serve as a reminder of the butt-chewing they just got and reinforce the idea that they should double-check their workstation before leaving it unattended.

The entire point of a fellow employee getting involved with an unsecured workstation is so that the offending employee doesn't get reprimanded (or outright fired) by management. By incorporating the chiding with a prank, you give them an opportunity to laugh it off while also being aware that they royally screwed up.

Letting them know they screwed up and then throwing them to the wolves anyways will just get you branded as "that guy". It's also unhelpful.

 

[Kyriakos]

Which is why if you plan to throw them to the wolves you should never let them know you know. Learn the ways of the dark side.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

And if I were your friend, I'd snitch on the snitch.

This is rendered pretty much meaningless against you having already established "Commodore is all snitch, all the time." I mean, it's pretty obvious that a round robin session would go:

One: Well, this is what's happening with me...
Commodore: If I were you, I'd snitch.
Two: Hmmm, well, this is what's happening with me...
Commodore: If I were you, I'd snitch.
Three: I saw this happening to my co-worker...
Commodore: If I were them, I'd snitch, and if I were you I'd make sure they did and then I'd snitch too.
Four: Ooooookay then. Anybody see the ballgame last night?
Commodore: The third baseman needs to snitch.

 

[Commodore]

This is rendered pretty much meaningless against you having already established "Commodore is all snitch, all the time." I mean, it's pretty obvious that a round robin session would go:

One: Well, this is what's happening with me...
Commodore: If I were you, I'd snitch.
Two: Hmmm, well, this is what's happening with me...
Commodore: If I were you, I'd snitch.
Three: I saw this happening to my co-worker...
Commodore: If I were them, I'd snitch, and if I were you I'd make sure they did and then I'd snitch too.
Four: Ooooookay then. Anybody see the ballgame last night?
Commodore: The third baseman needs to snitch.

Okay, I have to admit that made me laugh. You always do a quality job of lampooning me Tim.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's not a white box - it's an image which hasn't been set to have transparency, so the background shows up as white.

Okay, but it's still a problem that has nothing to do with the font.