Pickles

There is a guy at my company who a few of us refer to as "Pickles." He is the stereotypical lazy, ineffective employee. Pickles was given a job many years ago because he had connections to a manager. Nepotism.

He is overpaid and completely incapable of doing the job he is paid to do. Sadly, most of the company knows of him and his lack of abilities.

I was on a committee with him for a couple of years so I got to see his general ineffectiveness up close. Among of his most annoying habits is his love for Dale Carnegie. He was always quoting Dale Carnegie.

Need I say more?

If you are not familiar with Dale Carnegie, his most famous book was "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Years ago, it was common for companies to send their employees to the Dale Carnegie Course.

No matter what we were discussing during the course of the committee, Pickles found a way to throw in Dale Carnegie. "Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

Yeah, we get it, old Dale turns you on.

Pickles other annoying habit was continually changing his job title. The project we were working on was quite complex, so there were times we had people from outside the company attend our meetings. It never failed, Pickles changed his title and what his role was at the company. It became a running joke. What will Pickles be today?

What has become of Pickles? Nothing. He is still there, still ineffective, still overpaid. I think he realizes how incapable he is but does not realize everyone else knows, too.