Palmer, Matthew

A while ago I worked in an office where we had this woman who was as dumb as they come. Look: I can be pretty judgemental about people, and for the record, I am incredible tough on myself more than others. I call myself "dumb ass" or "stupid" and don't to other people.

This one particular co-worker, though she was generally nice to me and everyone else--as far as I can tell--she was a complete imbecile. Forgot about the skill sets matching the job description or her attitude and disconnect between her job tasks and skills needed to do clerical work, she was just a freakin idiot. I felt bad at the time for thinking that about her. I was nice and not condescending and spoke to her as an equal. I gave her stuff to do but she didn't do it well and her attitude towards the work was terrible. Basically, she sat there and answered the phone and stapled and paper clipped. That's it. She has a kid now. Poor thing, he has some stupid genes in him. Maybe he'll be lucky and it will skip several generations.

What is it with dumb people having kids? Don't we have enough dumb people? Of course they don't really know the scale of their stupidity but can't their DNA forge a synaptic connection with common sense? A lot of them have multiple kids and then multiply that by some being poor and we have a recipe for disaster! And why is it that dumb people use Jesus and religion as a basis for intelligent talk? Having faith does not make you smart. Arguing or discussing religion particularly Christianity, and arguing over the Bible's lessons, is not interesting fodder.

I made a dentist appointment on 9/8/09 for a regular cleaning. I took the open 9/17 appointment and gave the dental assistant my name, information and requested Dr. C. She calls me on 9/15 to confirm. First, she asks if "Palmer, Matthew" was there. I said, "yes, that's me." Second, she re-confirms the wrong time with Dr. C. I'm thinking, she's over worked or dyslexic. Everything's fine. The next day, however, she calls and tells me that the doctor had an emergency and needs to reschedule. I said okay. I reiterate it's a regular cleaning and that 9/25 is fine. On 9/25/09 she calls and asks if "Palmer, Matthew" is there. I answer, "This is Matthew Palmer." She tells me that the doctor he has the flu. I said, "what do you mean, he? You mean 'she.'" She said, "no, Dr. W is sick. Dr. C only works on Tuesday and Thursday." All this time, she got my name and appointment wrong! "Fine," and I told her. I called her back to say I found another dentist. It's not worth my time and energy to communicate any further with dumb people.

When your employees are this dumb that they can't figure out a surname from a first name and a patient gets re-scheduled twice, then it's time for you to choose another professional. I worry about employers who hire dumb ass employees. What does it say about them? And, why not pay more money for someone who has greater potential and brain power? Is it an industry standard to hire dumb dental assistants? Is it an attitude we have towards menial tasks like clerical workers and kitchen staff? These jobs require different skill sets and there are plenty of people really great at it. Not everyone is a PhD or expert but we can be experts in our jobs. That includes getting names and times correct and learning more skills than stapling! And what does it say about me writing this blog entry when I'm supposed to be working at my desk! Damn hypocrite!