Friday Blogger

"The Nicer the person seems to be, the more suspicious you must become-Is it really a Golden Rule?" 

Ink On.....

"The Nicer the person seems to be , the more suspicious you must become"..I was in 9th standard, when I first read this phrase in one of my course book.There was a chapter named "The Umbrella Man" where there was a Old Man who tried to be nice with a lady and the lady used this phrase as a tool to judge that being. At that time I thought, well, what a crap is this? I mean, if some one is acting nice why to be judgmental?But as the days passed I thought there is no harm giving it a try and I too started using that tool to conclude about the nature of people, but it didn't help much because whom I considered as bad fellows as they tried being nice to me were at times actually good and vice versa. Thus after such a flop show I simply stopped using it.  Now you might be thinking, how come the Friday Blogger is reminding us about such an old story or how this can be connected to a Friday, ?So folks here how this statement came with a bang again in my life:

It was 8 AM in the morning when  a cell phone alarm tried to encroach in a peaceful sleep of a sleep deprived being with a song "November Rain". Most of  you will agree on how soulful and beautiful such song is and it really has something which can make your morning worthy, but as I mentioned, for a sleep deprived person like me and especially in winter on a Friday morning even Mozart himself can not make much difference.I ignored the "November Rain" and decided to put the alarm on "snooze"  and I was all again clenched in the arm of sleep.But Guns & Roses (the band who composed the song-November Rain) was in no mood to leave me, so at 8:15 AM they gave another try and this time they moved ahead and something like this penetrated my ear drums "Cause  nothing lasts forever, And we both know hearts can change, And its heard to hold a candle, In the cold November rain" and within milliseconds my body behaved like a puppet and I started singing along " Cause nothing lasts forever, even cold November Rain" thinking of a beautiful Friday.I turned on the switch and I was amazed to see that though it wasn't November but it was actually raining, I was so thrilled to see that I simply exclaimed..woohooo,,its a rainy day, but then some one was there who reminded me that bro school is over "Rainy Days" are of no use for you. Agitated and stressed I forced my muscles to act further so that I can get myself ready for the early morning conference call with a team in China, which I scheduled on my own to close an issue, this is what you call a suicide. I mumbled, "call on a Friday really a bad idea", what if they screwed my Friday by putting too many action items and deliverables on me? While I was finding ways to get out of this mess some one pinged me on office communicator, guess what....that was my manager..first Guns and Roses forced me to get out of the bed, when I was in the cocoon and enjoying the serene sleep and then a message from my manager "Please close the China issue, its urgent, take the call and then come to office", again as an ardent follower I said "Yes Boss". Before my manger pinged me, I was all in the mood to ask for a work from home on account of a "Rainy Day", but no there are two people who keep changing your plans "God up there and Demigod (Manager)  down here.Well the call started, I was not at all in the mood to get in a conversation with those Chinese folks but the fear of not managing to close the issue acted as a lubricant and forced me to go for the call and as expected the call bestowed me with a list of action items and I realized that why the hell my Friday is being screwed liked this? Well I moved ahead and unwillingly started getting ready for office and while I was deciding on the dress to sport for a weekend, my cell phone rang, this time again it was my manger, I said Good Morning Sir, he replied in a very condensed voice "by what time you will reach office", I thought first that conference cal and then this rude boss, I anticipated it's not going to be a Happy Friday. I replied, I will reach there within 2 hours.He said "okie" and hung up.I thought but I did not manage to gather the courage to ask for a work from home and started getting ready.I was about to leave for office and then again my demigod called me, I felt as if I am a telephone operator and have to be 24-7 available just at his service.But what was this, he was amazingly different as compared to how he generally behaves, I said Yes Boss, he asked "so what are your Friday plans ? I replied nothing as such and asked if he wants to have a team outing today? He said, "No, No you come to office, complete your work early and log off its a Friday". Imagine getting a call like this from your manager gives you the same feeling which you get when after a bad day at office you get a interview call from a different organisation and it leaves you with so many questions like, what's the reason behind such generosity? Had I done anything wrong or anything exceptionally well? While I was dealing with all these, I got a message beep on the office communicator, again that was my manager,  this time I was startled with his message, it said "No need to come to office, it is raining and thus don't waste time in commuting, you can avail a work from home".I thought that such a nice manager I have got.I was elated and was about to declare it as the best Friday so far but then I thought there is something fishy and I mumbled "Nicer the person seems to be , the more suspicious you must become" and I was actually in a suspicion and realized that how come I am relying on this phrase again, when it has never worked for me before and decided not to think and terminate my thought process. I went ahead an declared it as a Good Friday. While, I was busy in going through the mails, admiring the romantic whether and taking sips of tea in between, I realized there is not much work and I will finish early and then will enjoy the weekend.By the time the Friday feeling was at its peak and I was flying high, suddenly my cell phone rang again and it displayed my manger's number, this time his voice was heavy and he said "See, I have some meetings and calls so I too will not be coming to office" and then like an ardent follower I said "No problem Sir". While, I was about to hung up..he informed "I have sent you an email and have assigned you with some work, please see that", I said "Okie". I opened that mail and guess what, It contained four pending transactions, 3 conference calls , all supposed to be done in a day.I banged my head and felt like throwing my laptop outside the window, but most of the time you can't do what you exactly feel.For the first time I realized "Nothing comes for free-Nicer the person seems to be , the more suspicious you must become"..what to say..it was all a "SCREWED FRIDAY" :(

Ink OFF..till I get here again..on a new Friday...."Friday Blogger"

© 2013 Prashant Srivastav