Only In Writing

There are people who very strictly adhere to established rules and procedures. I admire many of them for their sense of orderliness. When they go home after work, their desks are clean.

But some people take official discipline to extremes, turning themselves into unthinking, unfeeling machines. Take, for instance, the bureaucrats in the office. They live by the book. They communicate through memos.

I envy those people. When I was working in an office, my desk was often messy. Many of the papers you’d find in my tray would better be in the wastebasket. I had never written a memo to communicate with subordinates. I found it easier to just yell across the office.

My tone was always friendly, of course, even when citing wrongdoings by those under me. I would, at times, signal an errant assistant to approach my desk. Then, once the fellow was close by, I would whisper a reprimand.  

My style worked for me, although I know it probably looked too casual for the office setting. You can’t put a yell or a whisper into a file. And maintaining a complete file is essentially part of the official system.

I was recently reminded of the standard official bureaucracy, when my former production assistant, who had since crossed over to the field of education, visited me. The young lady was aching to vent her frustration in her present job. She had become a little of a bureaucrat herself. She brought along several documents to support her story, when her words would have been enough for me. 

She showed me a series of four memos sent within the suburban school where she now works. I have shortened the memos below, owing to space constraints, giving only the gist of each. But I’m sure, reading them all, in their proper sequence, you’ll get the entire story.

The real names of those involved have been replaced with fictitious ones, in order to protect their personal identities.

MEMO NO. 1

Date: 25 May 2009

To: All Faculty Members

From: S. Ando, Principal

Subject: Meeting on 27 May 2009

There will be a meeting on the above-mentioned date, at 8 a.m. in my office, to discuss the necessary preparations for the approaching opening of classes. You are all enjoined to attend.

MEMO NO. 2

Date: 30 June 2009

To: A. Bantugan, Faculty member

From: S. Ando, Principal

Subject: Absence in 27 May 2009 faculty meeting

On 27 May 2009, a faculty meeting was scheduled, to discuss preparations necessary for the approaching opening of classes.

You did not attend the meeting, in spite of the fact that you had been properly informed of it beforehand.

Please explain to me, in writing, the reason for your absence.

MEMO NO. 3

Date: 02 July 2009

To: S. Ando, Principal

From: A. Bantugan, Faculty member

Subject: Response to your 22 June 2009 memo re my absence in 20 June 2009 faculty meeting

On 27 May 2009, I was on the second day of my 5-day official leave. My leave was permitted by virtue of a duly filled-out leave form I submitted to your office on 12 May 2009, which you approved.

Besides, I deemed it unnecessary for me to attend the meeting since my official leave covered all the days immediately leading to the opening of classes; and so I could not, anyway, be available to participate in the preparations that were to be discussed.

I’m sure you were aware of the importance of the 30 May 2009 date to me personally. It was my wedding day, and I thought I had earned your kind consideration.

MEMO NO. 4

Date: 25 June 2009

To: A. Bantugan, Faculty member

From: S. Ando, Principal

Subject: Response to your 23 June 2009 memo in response of my 22 June 2009 memo re your absence in 20 June 2009 faculty meeting

Consider this memo as a reprimand for your not attending the 27 May 2009 faculty meeting, of which you were properly notified beforehand.

For the record, I was not officially notified of your wedding on that day.

Next time, please inform this office in writing of your wedding and any such events that prevents you from fulfilling your official duties in the school.

The series of memos on the matter ended with the last one. Everything is on file.

Incidentally, the faculty member only put the word “personal reasons” in the leave form she earlier submitted to the office. But she swears that a week before her wedding, she told her co-teachers about it while they were having lunch together at the school cafeteria. The principal was among them.

I reminded the young lady, in case she overlooked a point in the reprimand memo, that she must not fail to inform her superior the next time she gets married.  

It seems that in some places in the official world, things people say are worthless. Only what they put in writing counts.

(E-MAIL: [email protected])