Interesting.

Anonymous posted the following comment on my "Caller go ahead" post the other day:

I hate the people who are SOMEBODY and expect instant results, rules bent or waived and/or subservience because of their exalted status in their own minds. We get quite a few of those.
In my experience most genuine 'somebodies' are very polite and considerate.

Isn't that interesting? I was thinking about the same thing the other day. By the way, I'm about to talk about my job a LOT here, so if you're annoyed by that, just look away. I know a lot of people don't like to talk about their jobs on their blogs for whatever reason, but hey, I'm not that way.

I am a temp, as you all know. I am, surprisingly enough, one of the people that my agency places in their most professional jobs. (My old boss in New Orleans would be utterly shocked. Then again, I didn't get paid nearly enough to be professional there.) Presidents, CEOs, directors, people of that very important ilk. Without fail, the more important the person is, the nicer they are to me, and the more they treat me as an equal.

What I don't understand is the fact that the lower you get in the hierarchy in any given company, the worse you treat me. Downright snobbish, at times, and I see no reason for it. For example, I worked at one company where many of the women would stand right in front of my desk and chit chat with each other and never acknowledge me. The vice president of the same company would come out frequently to find out how I was, if I needed anything. Where I work now, several women from other offices came in to eat lunch with the big boss (it's something he does once a month - meets with random people from other offices). If you're looking at hierarchy, they're in the lower echelons. Out of 10 women that walked in, only 2 actually acknowledged my presence, although they had to walk right past me. If that's how they treat the secretary in the big boss' office, how do they treat customers? Yet the 5 VIPs that are in that office treat me with respect and equality.

It honestly makes no sense. Well, snobbishness in general makes no sense, but it seems that the more important a person gets, the more snobby they would get. The exact opposite has proven true. Like the lady I spoke with the other day - snobby. The women from the other offices. Snobby. A HUGE business owner in the Jackson area, could probably buy me if he wanted, could probably buy the town and have it named after him if he wanted, more than courteous. CEOs - consistently courteous.

Anyone have any ideas as to why this would be? Drew suggests that they have nothing to prove, whereas those in lower areas of the company think that by appearing snobbish, they appear more important.

I'm just sayin', y'all. Be nice to everyone. I was the secretary at my old office in California, and the owners of the company were and are personal friends of mine. You treated me poorly, you got no love from them, especially if you were applying for a job. It's equally appalling how people treat those in the food service industry. Doesn't anyone realize how much power they wield?