It's my blog.Towards the end of my day at work, as I walked by the secretary at the copier and I asked her how she was doing. She told me that she was doing well and politely responded “how are you?”
I had not stopped walking as I was speaking, so I stepped around the corner to my destination. A few moments later as I passed her again I responded: “Tired but good.” She then responded: “Oh, thank you.”
Let’s slow this down for a second…
Me: How are you doing?
Her: Good. And you?
Me: Tired but good.
Her: Oh, thank you.
Now, my main concern is clearly in those last two lines. What did she hear in “tired, but good” that could be taken as a compliment?
So, you guys. I think that I just told the secretary that she has a “good butt.” If I get taken down on sexual harassment charges I’m going to need an excuse. Here are some possible options that I’ve devised, rather than sleeping last night:
- “Tired but good” sounds like “Liars chop wood.” She’d probably buy that.
- Convince her that it was “Secretary’s Posterior Appreciation Day” and I forgot to get a card.
- The Bible says “the truth will set you free,” so maybe try that.
- The Bible also says “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk,” so maybe I shouldn’t try that.
- Tell her that I said “Fired, but good.” That way, when I am eventually fired, she will be impressed with the fact that I have magic psychic powers.
- Do the honorable thing and marry her.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Peter Ess // May 28, 2008 at 2:34 pm
You see, there is a flaw in our logic, herr brother. It is clear to me that the secretary’s comment “Oh, thank you.” is not directly relating to the contents of your response, but instead thanking you for not directly ignoring her as she must have thought prior.
Let us look at the situation from a different perspective. With a long day of work largely behind her, Fräulein secretary had one task left to finish. This task required making use the establishment’s device for making legitimate copies of documents. Whilst making use of the machinery to complete her objective, a young man strolls by and inquires into her personal affairs. Of course, being polite but not wanting to reveal too much to the boisterous inquisitor, she answers quite plainly “Good.” Not wishing to be as rude as her interviewer, she responds politely asking of their day. And yet, despite making the effort, she receives no response. The man had left in the middle of a conversation, not the most becoming of mannerisms to be sure.
Somewhat relieved, Fräulein secretary takes this moment of peace to finish her task. And then what happens next? The very same man returns, with an answer to the question she had already abandoned. Instead of furthering the conversation, and risking more rude gestures from the man, she thanks him, to ensure that he did not feel what he did was rude, and he would not have to make it up to her.
2 Ramsey // May 28, 2008 at 3:31 pm
So you’re saying I should marry her?
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