Okay, that works.

[mamadeb]

My boss's daughter just got married. His cousin wanted to know Bryna's new address. But the cousin didn't call my boss directly. He had his *secretary * call my boss to get the address.

So. My boss has a secretary.

Me.

Tomorrow, I'm going to call the cousin's secretary with the information. I have no problem with this. At all.

Treat a relative like a business connection, get treated that way, right?

Comments

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I think that's what got my boss bothered - the implication that his cousin was so busy and important he can't call himself, but that my boss has enough time free to call a secretary - it's a dominance move and my boss didn't want to lose. Fortunately, he has me.

(The secretary herself was perfectly nice.)

I will say this - if your cousin is as busy as you say, his secretary is probably also quite busy with her regular clerical duties. If she is also required to help him with personal/family business, this could also place an extra burden on her. Unless it's stated when she is hired, her job is NOT to assist him with non-job related clerical activities. (If it was stated that way, that's a different story, and I certainly don't know the conditions of her employment.)

I will type a rare personal letter when I have nothing else to do, and I used to do some work for the synagogue under similar conditions, but I'd be asked to do it in a way that implied I was free to say "no" because it's NOT my job.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

I think that's what got my boss bothered - the implication that his cousin was so busy and important he can't call himself, but that my boss has enough time free to call a secretary

Or else, the cousin's secretary hasn't got your number, or doesn't know that your boss has a secretary, and assumes that the task of responding will be delegated if he has one. Again, the secretary probably maintains the cousin's address book, and probably just told her, "B got married and may have moved, could you please update her information? J will have the latest."

As for my cousin's secretary, or as I think the correct term nowadays is, Personal Assistant, I think she's like the secretaries on TV whose jobs include handling the chore-like aspects of their bosses' personal lives, like making appointments and updating address books. Rather than a receptionist/office-manager like you, whose job is taking care of the office as a whole, not of J personally.