Catty in her Coffee

     I have a co worker who upon her return from maternity leave not only gave birth to a daughter but also sharpened her claws. What is it about some women that make you dread their re-entry to the office?

     The week after Thanksgiving of 2012, Jocelyn returned to the office. (You may remember her from a previous blog.) At first, she was all baby talk and smiles. By her second week back that had changed. She was irritable and asking her any question was met with dismissive behavior or "I don't know. You'll have to ask someone else." I am completely understanding of the fact that she was on leave for twelve weeks, but I felt she could have asked anyone for help to get back on track.

     Another instance was when another co worker and I were eating lunch and he mentioned that one of our former co workers had gotten engaged. I was genuinely happy for her. She'd started dating a handsome doctor who was half way through his residency and seemed to really care about her. Jocelyn hearing this turned around and added with a smirk, "Well, that didn't take long, did it?"

     "What do you mean?" I asked

     "She's only been dating him a few months. Didn't she start dating him before she quit here?"

     "He treats her better than her ex. I'm happy for her," I countered.

     "It figures she'd snare a doctor. She's more of a fundraising lady who lunches. She'll be having babies and going to charity functions in no time."

     That dig by Jocelyn really irritated me. If both parties were happy, who cared? To be honest, she'd never liked this lady. She was younger, prettier, and thinner than Jocelyn, so of course this was a problem. Jocelyn was always nice to her face, clawing her like a scratch post behind her back.

    Sensing that my co worker and I weren't going to indulge her catty chatter, she vacated the kitchen. Her newest source of contention is that she hasn't found a new job. She can be frequently caught whispering about how she has friends with "important" jobs. She often makes personal calls on the clock on her cell phone, sometimes to her friends.

     Now that her baby is much older she has mellowed slightly. I still steer clear of her. She isn't above the occasional dig or cutting remark.