Senseless Working Overtime

<A few, quiet footsteps; the clattering of keyboards and clicking of the mouse>

What exactly are you doing here?

There are two working clocks at this desk you know.

{Pause for listener answer}

You are working late.

I can see that.

{Pause; Speaker is kind of getting ignored}

Did HR approve of you working this late?

You are...doing this unpaid.

Why would you do something like that?

{Pause for listener answer}

To get the project done early.

There weren't any rush orders to my knowledge.

You just need to?

{Pause; ruminating}

Don't you have, like, a family waiting for you?

You don't think they're going to be too upset. Hmm.

You do this often, then. I see.

[Long inhale]

Take a breather for a moment.

{Speaker is ignored}

<Keyboard clicks accelerate/louder/seems busier>

I'm the head of the tech department. You know that, right? I can remotely disable your laptop from here.

<Keyboard clicks stop, for now>

Look.

It is late. Perhaps you need to leave for the night.

It's almost midnight. You've been here since 9 A.M.

Eight A.M.

[The faintest whiff of 'smug'] My apologies for misunderstanding.

You should go home.

The project you have isn't due for at least another week. I rationalize you are nearly complete with it.

{Pause}

Scoreboard. I'm right again. As usual.

You're not getting anything out of this. It's an active detriment.

{Pause}

Your face could stand to be nicer.

Let me put it another way.

I'm sort of reminded of what Serena, the last Lead Manager said.

One time, she looked at me and said "{Charles/Charlotte/Channel Name}...do you know why people go postal?"

I knew the answer, of course, but this was the most interesting thing she said in months, so I let her continue.

She said, "People go postal because the work never stops."

{Pause; brief}

She was right, you know.

I do hate to sound like an ice breaker in a meeting, but...let's run a little thought experiment.

If you complete this assignment early, ahead of time, do you get a few days off?

Do you get a bonus?

No. You are just given a new assignment.

If you complete that assignment early, do you get a bonus?

No. Do you get a couple days off?

No. You get a new assignment.

[Really stretch out] Ad in-fin-it-um.

The work never stops.

You are pushing yourself, unpaid, for no reward other than getting more work in return.

Pretty lame, if you ask me.

Here's what you are going to do.

You're going to pack it up, and go home. Tomorrow, you're going to go take your kids out to get breakfast somewhere. Don't care where, but you're not to lift a finger on the operational process.

I'll mess with your punch card. You'll get the overtime from today, and conveniently get paid for tomorrow because of the "glitch in the system".

{Listener protest}

Look. I'm not here to ride a moral high horse. You can either take my deal, or I can complain to Janet tomorrow when you show up.

Be honest with yourself. Does the IT {guy/person} ever lie? No. No they don't.

I'm not saying a habit should be made out of this. You need to quit working late like this. But at the very least you should be paid for what you've already done.

I'm usually here as night shift, quite frankly. If you keep it up, I'll just kick you out again.

Take the deal. Spend time with your family. Put some balance in that work and life.

{Pause}

Good choice. See you after the weekend.

<Close laptop; footsteps as IT speaker walks away>

END.