Ugh! So when I first started this new job I got this office just past some double doors and down the hallway.  Despite the lack of window and frigid temp I was perfectly happy in my little island at the end of the hall.  Until one of the senior nurses pulled me aside to ask just what in the heck I thought I was doing.  Um- seeing patients?  Wrong answer.  I gave her my best smile and started in on my lofty ideas about a transformative therapeutic environment and how the unit was aesthetically lacking. She frowned- guess again.  Next, I tried explaining how I simply could not do my work in any other setting because my FILE CABINET was in there (and you just .do. not. separate a social worker from her papers, mkay.)

After catching me up on common sense 101 we all agreed that I needed to move, but playing musical offices was easier said than done.  It took a bit of scheming and intercepting a delivery of bookshelves, but finally I got in to the *Golden* office.  This was the office directly across from the other social worker, on the good side of the nurse’s station, where I had my very own bathroom (shower, too!) The air conditioner worked, the window had a decent view…I could go on, but the point here is that social workers are rarely motivated by money.    

So there I was, happy as a clam in my bigger, better office….the only problem was a slight squeak in the door.  The squeak got louder and louder until it turned into this eeEEEAAARRRCK kind of thing that could be heard all the way in the other room. That door got harder and harder to close, and by Friday I had to karate-chop it open in the mornings and lean waaaay back on the handle to lock it at the end of the day. 

Mr. Boss (along with everyone else on the unit) noticed this and suggested I fill out a maintenance request form.  Cuz nothing says ‘I’m a competent professional’ like getting stuck in your own office during a family session, and having to call the security guard on your cell phone to come let you out.  Double Ugh!  I was skeptical about using the user-friendly-thingy on our computer system but was pleasantly surprised when the maintenance guy showed up right away.  Turns out, he was just visiting a patient.  But! Once the real maintenance guy came, he “fixed” everything.

Not sure what combination of WD-40 and a chainsaw he used, but now I can’t keep the dang thing shut!  It pops open whenever the air conditioner comes on, when I’m typing, on the phone, or at other inopportune moments.  So now I really mean it when I say come find me….my door is ALWAYS open ;-)