Our four offices at work have been pretty toasty the past week or so. At one point, it hit 80 degrees in my office. Great if you’re outside by a beach – kinda miserable if you’re in dress pants and a long sleeved shirt.
We couldn’t figure out why the entire rest of the office complex had full blown air conditioning and in our offices, the air wasn’t even moving.
My boss asked me to check with the physical facilities department and open a work order. I dutifully checked all the offices for temperature variances, determined the room numbers, and called it in. A few hours later, 2 guys from the physical plant show up and walk into my co-worker’s office. They walk out seconds later as the air conditioning kicks in with a rush of cool air.
One of the guys says to me, “the thermostat was set on heat,”
Mortified, I walk in to my co-workers office and see the thermostat on the wall next to his light switch.
He says, “I had it turned down to 65 and it didn’t do anything,”
I barely spare him a glance as I flip down the cover and show him the clearly marked switch – now set on “cool” instead of “heat”.
I thanked the physical plant guys as I went back to my office and they remarked that the easy ones were a nice way to end the day.
Then I stood in my office for a moment with my eyes closed, trying to tamp down the fury. Terribly busy day, overheated and stressed, and I was livid. And, frankly, embarrassed on behalf of the entire planet.
I opened my eyes and I could have sworn that the unimaginable stupid was so intense that it nearly crystallized right out of the air.
I would have put it in a box if it had. I’m pretty sure I could have found a use for a solid crystal of pure stupid.
How does one get to a point in their adult life where they’ve never seen how a thermostat works? And even if they have never seen one, wouldn’t you think that one second of investigation might have been warranted? That is literally how long it took for me to determine there was a cover and open it.
For a very brief moment, I tried to blame myself for not checking his office for a thermostat – but then I realized that there is an upper limit to how much thinking I’m willing to do for other people. And that was clearly beyond it.
I got a little exercise this evening and I’m feeling a little more relaxed. A little, anyway. I think I need to play some really violent video games, take a cold shower, and go to bed.
Tomorrow, at least, the office will be cooler.