Are You Vindictive?

I just got through reading a story on The Pittsburgh Channel.com about the vindictiveness of a Ohio postal worker.

He worked for the Postal Service in Akron, Ohio for eleven years as a mechanic and was recently video taped by co-workers putting urine in a coffee pot in the break room. Prosecutors said he was unhappy at work.

In my thirty four years working for the Postal Service, I saw some real strange things but nothing like this. Some of the things I witnessed happened right out in the open, such as people fighting amongst each other and with customers. It seemed like in every office I worked at, there were always a few people that needed to be kept away from each other.

I remember one time during Christmas season the clerks and carriers got together and  had a luncheon in the break room of the Post Office. This particular office had a clerk that had a knack of getting under everybody’s skin. Most of the time people put up with his nonsense but on this festive occasion a letter carrier was pushed to his breaking point.

It started with some words between the clerk and carrier then it escalated into a shouting match and it ended with the carrier picking up a large serving platter filled with spaghetti and meat balls and pouring it over the clerk's head. The sight of the clerk sitting there covered with spaghetti, sauce, and meat balls is one that will always stay etched in my mind. Even though many went without tasting any of the spaghetti, it was worth it to have someone finally shut that annoying clerk up.

Sometimes I wondered what took place that went unnoticed. I had a few people that worked for me that were somewhat unhappy with their assignments at times. There was one person who when he saw a co-worker upset at me or another supervisor would break out with the following mantra, “Don’t get mad, get even.”

There was a woman who worked for me who was extremely selfish and could have a mean streak much like the mechanic in Ohio. No matter what you did for her she was always unhappy. I hope that she has mellowed somewhat since I retired.

Along with the story is an interactive poll that asks the readership the following question , “Have you ever done anything vindictive to your coworkers?” Currently, out of 18,721 voting, 85 responded, Yes, and I was caught, 1,457 responded, Yes, and I was never caught, and 17,179 responded, No, I have not.

This poll is not a scientific poll, but it shows that from this base eight percent of the people admit to doing something vindictive to their coworkers. Hmm, how factual do you think this is in your workplace?