MY ONLY COMPLAINT ABOUT MY COWORKERS IS THAT I CAN'T REALLY COMPLAIN ABOUT THEM

I don’t usually blog about work. I like my job and would prefer not to get fired over something I wrote, no matter how innocently I made the comment. That being said, today’s topic is about my co-workers.

I am really lucky when I think about the people with whom I work. I read blogs all the time about how other people’s co-workers are loud, gross, and inconsiderate. They constantly pass blame and horde praise. My office is most definitely not like that. Do I love everyone at work? Of course not. Are most of the people gems that outshine the few I dislike? Most definitely.

Friday and today were fabulous examples of the kind of camaraderie that makes Small Liberal Law Firm such a great place to work. On Friday, I was the among the busiest I had ever been at work. I had two briefs due on Friday and one today. There were simply not enough hours in the day. Veronica, one of my co-workers, stopped by my office and noticed my frazzled demeanor. Without hesitation, she took one of the briefs from me to work on herself. While I was really grateful for the help, I was also nervous. Veronica and I are not competing for partnership or plum projects, but its also hard to admit you can’t handle the work you have been given and I was nervous about what the Partner in charge would think. Turns out, Partner had no idea because instead of emailing her work to Partner at the end of the day and taking credit for saving the day, Veronica sent the finished brief to me to pass along. I forwarded it to Partner (with a note telling Partner how helpful Veronica had been) and managed to finish the other briefs in the allotted time.

And it wasn’t just Veronica (who even offered a hand with some of the more tedious duties such as cite checking and organizing exhibits), but others as well. Intern came in on her day off and helped to collate, staple, make minor edits and generally lend a hand. Doctor’s Wife (another associate) listened to me vent my frustration and Photogenic Friend offered me a beer when Friday ended – all fabulous co-worker gestures. Even the administrative staff went the extra mile in proof-reading, making untold amount of copies and double checking my work when I had been reading for too long.

When I used to work at Local Union, I found a couple of my co-workers to be helpful at crunch time, but mostly they were concerned for their own projects and did not offer to jump in (no, Wuzi, I am obviously not talking about you!). When they did help out, it was only if there was something back in return – credit, praise, ownership of the project, etc. Never just to help.

So, even though you folks will never read this since I don’t allow work people to have this URL, I just want to publicly say thanks. I literally could not have gotten through the last week without your help.