Bad Boss Anecdote

昨天跟一个曾在美驻台“办事处”工作过两年多，目前住在夏威夷的朋友。现在我们有了类似的工作经验，忍不住互相交换了一下恶老板的故事。

她在“办事处”的顶头上司是新闻参赞，一个中年女，“一无所长”，incompetent, back-stabbing, self-centered, vicious, universally despised. 毫无意外的是，这种人在政府机构中照例扶摇直上，外交部也好，药品管理局也好，政界也好，皆是如此，而且爬得越高越可以肆无忌惮。

"Her only remarkable talent is that she dressed beautifully and always looked like a million dollars," said my friend. "She *looked* like a proper diplomat."

One day, she was to give a formal report to the ambassador. She was always nervous about public speaking (How someone with lesser public-speaking skills got the job is anyone's guess) and usually sent her subordinates to deal with the press, but she could not wiggle out of reporting to the ambassador, who despised her and she knew it, which made her even more nervous. In such meetings she always rambled on uncontrollably.

In the meeting with the ambassador, my friend was sitting at the table, quietly cringing at her boss' nervous chatters. A colleague friendly with my friend and sitting next to her nudged her with an elbow and passed a note: "Follow the gaze of the ambassador."

My friend looked up at the ambassador. The ambassador was obviously neither listening to her boss' rambling nor looking at her face or eyes. Rather his eyes were fixed on her right sleeve on the table, where the tip of a pen touched, seeping blue ink into the delicate beige fabric. The ambassador remained silent with a glint of glee behind his eyes. Nobody said anything until the meeting was all over and the boss discovered the massive blue spot on her sleeve.

"How much do you have to despise a person to take such delight from watching her Chanel suit ruined?" My friend mused.