know.
XXXOOO
Dolly
P.S. Thanks for helping to bail me out of that nasty little thing with Aaron Spender. Isn’t it the pits when they go all John Hinckley on you? So glad he took that job withNewsweek, I can’t even tell you! XXOO—D
To: Kate Mackenzie
Fr: Jen Sadler
Re: Dessert Cart Lady
It is all over the building that the T.O.D. is going to give the Dessert Cart Lady the heave ho for not handing over a piece of pie to Stu Hertzog at lunch today. Is this true?
J
To: Jen Sadler
Fr: Kate Mackenzie
Re: Ida Lopez
It’s true. The T.O.D. says *I* have got to fire her. Today. Jen, how am I supposed to fire that sweet old lady? This has to be a mistake. English isn’t her first language. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. I mean, she always calls me dearie when she sees me in the hallway, and sneaks me chocolate chip cookies, even though as a new hire I am not even allowed in the senior staff dining room. Plus everyone—EVERYONE—at the paper loves her.
Everyone except Stuart Hertzog, apparently.
But he’s a lawyer.A LAWYER. What does that tell you about his abilities as a judge of character? Hmmm?
Oh my God, I wish I had called in sick today.
Kate
To: Kate Mackenzie
Fr: Jen Sadler
Re: Dessert Cart Lady
Amy is such a bitch. You know she’s totally in love with Hertzog, right? Tim up in Computers says he saw them at Il Buco last Saturday, with their tongues down each other’s throats. I mean, she’s all but picked out the china pattern. That’s the only reason she gives a crap about Ida.
I wonder if she’ll change her name when the time comes. If anyone deserves to be Mrs. Stuart Hertzog, it’s the T.O.D.
You know what I heard? Hertzog has a cigar-store Indian in his office. He thinks just because he’s a big shot in his daddy’s firm—like his father before him, and his father before him, and so on—nobody’s going to say anything about how unPC it is, or the fact that he’s such a pedantic phony.
Maybe that’s why Ida wouldn’t give him pie.
All I have to say is, that suit he had on today had to cost three grand, easy. It was Armani.
But it doesn’t matter how well he dresses, he’ll still always look like Barney fromThe Flintstones.
Have you tried reasoning with the T.O.D.? I realize it probably won’t work, but you can be pretty persuasive, when you bat those baby-blues of yours.
J
To: Amy Jenkins
Fr: Kate Mackenzie
Re: Ida Lopez
Amy, are you really sure terminating Mrs. Lopez is the best idea? I mean, like you said, she is extremely popular with the staff. I have been inundated with e-mails from members of the staff—some of them senior members—asking that she not be let go.
It is possible that Mrs. Lopez might benefit from going through customer-service training again. Maybe if we go ahead with the written warning from last week’s infraction, she’ll straighten up. Like you yourself said at last month’s Staff Relations Committee meeting, termination represents not just a failure on the employee’s part, but a failure on the part of her supervisor, as well!
Kate
To: Kate Mackenzie
Fr: Amy Jenkins
Re: Ida Lopez
I sincerely hope you are not questioning my authority in this matter, Kathleen. As someone who has less than a year of work here at theJournal under her belt, I would think the last thing you would want to do is question the actions of your direct supervisor—especially while you are still on employment probation.
Ida Lopez has been a continuous problem at this company since the day she was hired. My predecessor
XXXOOO
Dolly
P.S. Thanks for helping to bail me out of that nasty little thing with Aaron Spender. Isn’t it the pits when they go all John Hinckley on you? So glad he took that job withNewsweek, I can’t even tell you! XXOO—D
To: Kate Mackenzie
Fr: Jen Sadler
Re: Dessert Cart Lady
It is all over the building that the T.O.D. is going to give the Dessert Cart Lady the heave ho for not handing over a piece of pie to Stu Hertzog at lunch today. Is this true?
J
To: Jen Sadler
Fr: Kate Mackenzie
Re: Ida Lopez
It’s true. The T.O.D. says *I* have got to fire her. Today. Jen, how am I supposed to fire that sweet old lady? This has to be a mistake. English isn’t her first language. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. I mean, she always calls me dearie when she sees me in the hallway, and sneaks me chocolate chip cookies, even though as a new hire I am not even allowed in the senior staff dining room. Plus everyone—EVERYONE—at the paper loves her.
Everyone except Stuart Hertzog, apparently.
But he’s a lawyer.A LAWYER. What does that tell you about his abilities as a judge of character? Hmmm?
Oh my God, I wish I had called in sick today.
Kate
To: Kate Mackenzie
Fr: Jen Sadler
Re: Dessert Cart Lady
Amy is such a bitch. You know she’s totally in love with Hertzog, right? Tim up in Computers says he saw them at Il Buco last Saturday, with their tongues down each other’s throats. I mean, she’s all but picked out the china pattern. That’s the only reason she gives a crap about Ida.
I wonder if she’ll change her name when the time comes. If anyone deserves to be Mrs. Stuart Hertzog, it’s the T.O.D.
You know what I heard? Hertzog has a cigar-store Indian in his office. He thinks just because he’s a big shot in his daddy’s firm—like his father before him, and his father before him, and so on—nobody’s going to say anything about how unPC it is, or the fact that he’s such a pedantic phony.
Maybe that’s why Ida wouldn’t give him pie.
All I have to say is, that suit he had on today had to cost three grand, easy. It was Armani.
But it doesn’t matter how well he dresses, he’ll still always look like Barney fromThe Flintstones.
Have you tried reasoning with the T.O.D.? I realize it probably won’t work, but you can be pretty persuasive, when you bat those baby-blues of yours.
J
To: Amy Jenkins
Fr: Kate Mackenzie
Re: Ida Lopez
Amy, are you really sure terminating Mrs. Lopez is the best idea? I mean, like you said, she is extremely popular with the staff. I have been inundated with e-mails from members of the staff—some of them senior members—asking that she not be let go.
It is possible that Mrs. Lopez might benefit from going through customer-service training again. Maybe if we go ahead with the written warning from last week’s infraction, she’ll straighten up. Like you yourself said at last month’s Staff Relations Committee meeting, termination represents not just a failure on the employee’s part, but a failure on the part of her supervisor, as well!
Kate
To: Kate Mackenzie
Fr: Amy Jenkins
Re: Ida Lopez
I sincerely hope you are not questioning my authority in this matter, Kathleen. As someone who has less than a year of work here at theJournal under her belt, I would think the last thing you would want to do is question the actions of your direct supervisor—especially while you are still on employment probation.
Ida Lopez has been a continuous problem at this company since the day she was hired. My predecessor
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