Nobody’s Perfect and You Can’t Fix Stupid

One morning as I was getting settled at my desk at work, my phone started ringing, the caller ID said US Government.  Now, it is true that I was a Federal Contractor, but the caller ID usually had the agency name, not just US Government.  It kind of freaked me out, the call went to voice mail before I could answer, but an hour later, the phone rang again and I answered it.  It was our client and he was upset.  One of our administrators had made an error on one of the government servers and they needed to have it rebooted, so Jeffrey called him and asked him to reboot it.  However, our process required me or Keith to sign off before the server could be rebooted.  So, the client asked if I had signed off on the reboot.  I guess that is when this got ugly.  Jeffrey yelled at the client and told him that I was nobody but a figure head and that he was the Network Manager and he needed to do what he was

told.  I told him that I was sorry that this had happened to him.  I also told him that Keith was in his office and that he would have no problem giving approval for the reboot.  I told him, that I would ask for Keith’s approval.  After I hung up the phone I talked with Jeffrey.  I told him that the client had just called me.  I also asked him why he yelled at the client.  He then reminded me who he was and stated that he shouldn't have to get permission from me.  And, the client was just a System Admin.  Plus, I had not arrived at work yet, he responded, “What was I supposed to do, call you at home?”  I told him that he could have, or he could have asked Keith to sign off on it.  Keith was in his office by 7 am.  I tried to explain to him, that he had upset the client and who knows who else he is going to tell about this issue.  Jeffrey did not like my response.  He went to his desk and sent and email to me and the client stating that it was inappropriate for the Network Manager to obtain permission to reboot a server from a non-technical figurehead.  My response to the email was that I was the Change Control Co-Chair, and that requesting approval from the Change Control Chair or Co-Chair for emergencies was part of the process that was created by our department.  I also reminded him that I was assigned the Co-Chair position by Keith, and if he did not like the process or did not want to obtain approval from me, he could go to Keith’s office and get his approval.  The email finally made it to Keith’s office.  Keith had no problem giving approval, but of course he wanted to know what happened and why, which was really what Jeffery was trying to avoid. 

Keith also told him that I was right.  Keith also explain that the government's organization was different than ours.  And that Jeffrey needed to understand how the government worked, their organization was top down and ours was cross-functional, and they don’t necessarily understand how ours work.  The client didn't mean any harm when he asked for Cara’s approval; he was just following our process.  And, in his world, her signature, equals an approval.  And she has that responsibility because I asked her to take it.  After that, everyone seemed to be OK.  Jeffrey was less angry, but the issue seemed to be resolved. 

Later in the afternoon, another manager stopped me outside of our department.  He asked me if I was alright.  I told him that I was fine.  He told me that the client had called him because he was still upset about what had happened that morning and he had sent him a copy of the email that Jeffrey sent.  I told him that I was fine, and that Keith had handled the situation.  Everything was fine.  Are you sure, he asked.  I responded “Yes”.

After that, the week went by pretty fast.  I got in fairly early on Friday and Keith was all dressed up.  He said that he was going downtown.  He also said that usually when the government requests you to come to downtown DC on a Friday, it usually isn't good.  I didn't think much of it. I was going to get my work done and take an hour lunch, which was something that I rarely did. 

Well, later that afternoon, I was walking down the hallway on my way to lunch.  And I heard this booming voice “Freeze!! Where are you going?"  It was Keith.  I was going to lunch I replied.  He told me that I was not going to lunch, I was going to my desk, and we were having a meeting as soon as he gathered the rest of the staff.  So I went back to my desk and waited.

When the meeting started Keith was angry.  He stated that he was asked to come to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, and when he sat down, Jeffrey’s email was put in his lap.  Then he was asked, “Is this the way your people treat their employees?”  He didn't elaborate on the rest of the meeting.  I rolled my head back, I couldn't believe that this had gone this far.  I had seen things happen like this before, but I thought that the issue was over.  Keith was still yelling.  “I realize that this is not a perfect team, and we have issues, but we need to keep are disagreements to ourselves.  The client does not need to know it.  Also, our disagreements should take place on our network and on our email not on theirs.”  Jeffrey asked how the government got the email, Keith told him, that it didn't matter, the conversation occurred in their environment and it was their property.  Keith did ask them how they got the email and they refused to say. 

The fallout was ugly.  It was assumed that I sent the government the email, even though it was never really said to my face.  I guess that maybe it was thought that I wanted revenge or wanted to teach Jeffrey a lesson.  However, to be honest I saw no benefit in getting any type of revenge.  Also, years had passed by then and I thought that the managers that I worked with including Jeffrey were not teachable, at least not by me.  Nor did I think that it was my responsibility to teach them anything.  

How I became a Federal Contractor...

I thought about stepping back even further in time, to discuss how I became a government contractor...

Well, it all started in November 1, 2000.  I was working as a Disaster Recovery consultant at Allstate in Illinois, and I told my company that I needed to be in Michigan, so I could vote in the presidential election.  So, I stayed in Michigan that week, when I got home from voting.  I got a call from a recruiter in DC.  “Good Afternoon my sister, I hope that you are doing well.”   Most African Americans know that this was my cue to hang up, but I didn't.  The recruiter went on to tell me that they were looking for contractors who had worked on commercial projects to come to DC and work on a large government project.  He stated that the government was beginning to realize that contractors and consultants who worked in commercial projects had a larger range of skills than those who had always worked in the government.   And they needed people like me to come to DC and work on this project and share your skills with your country.   Why don’t we fly you out here and you can interview on this project.   At most, you will get a great job and help your country, if it doesn't work out, you will at least get to see our nation’s capital. Can you fly out tomorrow?   The recruiter told me that he would pick me up at the airport and drive me to my hotel.   (Yes, I fell for it.)  So, I booked my flight and selected a hotel, with the impression that they would reimburse me, when I got there.   Well, he did pick me up, granted I waited at the airport for 2 hours.  When he finally came, it was getting dark.  So, as we were driving, he told me that he didn't want to be rude, but I had a lot of skills and experience on my resume, so he and his manager were trying to guess my age.  So, he said, “How old are you?”   My response was “Old enough to know that you don’t ask a lady her age!”  He drove me to my hotel, but he had a nervous look on his face.  So, I asked him, if I had picked a bad place to stay? After all, I didn't know DC and I could change my reservations.  He told me that it was fine for the night.  I asked him if he was sure, he said yes, and offered to carry my bags.

Well, I checked in and then we went to my room.  I went to open my door, and he asked me to wait and let him do it.  He put the bags down, opened the door really fast and jumped in the room.  Once again, I asked if I needed to change my reservations, and he told me no, but he said that I should be careful entering into a hotel room at night, and his goal was to startle someone if they were in there waiting for me.  Well, I know that I was startled.  He also told me that before he became a recruiter that he used to be a New York City policeman.  After, all the excitement, he left and told me that he would pick me up tomorrow at 9:00 am for my interview.  I was tired, so I decided get something to eat, unpack my bags and go to

bed.  Well the hotel had a restaurant, so I ate something and then I went back to my room to unpack.  I opened the dresser drawer and the biggest roach jumped out.  Now I couldn't sleep, and I decided I had to change hotels.  So, I went to the yellow pages, to look for phone numbers of local hotels in the area.   Well, the hotel and motel section of the yellow pages were torn out of the book with a razor.   I called the front desk, and I told them about the roach.   The hotel's response was “Really, we just had the exterminator spray that room.   Well, we will be glad to move you.”  So, I moved, but I didn't want to be there.  I felt like I had entered the beginning of one of those horror stories.   I didn't sleep much, but I managed to go to sleep.

The next day, I got up and got ready for my interview.  My recruiter told me to meet him outside.  So, I stood outside in the parking lot in my navy blue suit.   While I was standing there, a guy pulled up and asked me if I needed a ride.  My response was, “No thank you, I am waiting for someone.”   He asked me if I was sure, I said yes.  I was thinking, "Why did I ever pick this hotel?  Did he think that I was a prostitute?"  The recruiter showed up and drove me to the interview.  The interview seemed to be going well, the manager was very nice and it seemed like it would be fun to work with him.   At the end of the interview, the manager told me that he liked me and that I had the job.  But, he said, "Don’t tell the recruiter, I like to make to make him sweat.  It brings me joy.   So let’s have a serious look when we leave and when he asks you how it went, tell him, you don’t know."  I said OK.  The interviewing manager waited 3 hours to tell him that they had hired me.  LOL.

#federalcontractor
#interview

Introduction

So, today is Labor Day.  And, it is also the announcement of my new blog, “Tales of a Federal Government Contractor”.  The blog is going to consist of the various events that occurred while I was working in the DC area as a Government contractor.  I always thought that I had interesting stories to tell about my job.  And, moving across the Mason Dixon line and into Government contracting provided a serious culture shock.  So, I did some research.  And although, I saw stories that showed life as a Government Contractor, I have not seen any stories like mine.  I think that one reason is that when you are working as a Contractor, companies can get away from following some Government and well legal policies, and when you are a Sub-Contractor, they really have the opportunity back away and avoid some laws.  Accountability becomes something that only occurs if someone wants notoriety or if you are disliked and someone wants to get ride of you.  If you have a legitimate issue with just your company, you risk being labeled a troublemaker in all of the organizations.  And, if you have to sue, you may have to sue multiple companies, which can take a very long time.  Both scenarios have allowed companies to sometimes get away with shady tactics, or allow their employees to create shady work environments. 

The blog may cause some concern, but it will be candid as well as contain some humor.  For full disclosure, I don’t have any lawsuits against any companies, nor do I have any plans for litigation in the future.  I have filed some EEOC complaints in the past, however, either I was unable to prove my case, and the one time that I might have been able to prove it, I became ill, and I lost that window of opportunity.  I am not bitter or interested in finger pointing.  I just have some interesting stories that I want to tell.

I think that some of these stories were unique and unexpected, and although I had seen many stories on the internet, I hadn't seen these, so why not share.  That being said, I will not be using any real names of companies or people, but the stories will be true.  My plan is to make the stories real and entertaining and to give you some insight of what happens in some of those buildings along the Beltway.  

#EEOC
#MasonDixon
#Beltway