Jeanette's Quirky World: Snoop Management 101

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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Snoop Management 101

My father had a wonderful secretary. He was quite pleased with Sally except for one thing. He suspected--couldn't prove it, mind you--but he suspected that she snooped. It wasn't so much that he was trying to keep secrets from her, but it's awkward to discover that your cache of candy bars has been alphabetized, especially as you'd hidden them so your wife wouldn't know you were eating them, and of course your wife is a very good friend of Sally's.

One day, my dad had a great idea. He didn't want to confront Sally, but he did want to know if the disarrangements were due to his carelessness or her interest in his private life. So he wrote a list in his beautiful long-hand, headed "Ten Reasons I Admire Sally" 1) She is always cheerful. 2) She genuinely cares about other people. 3)--well, you get my drift. Every statement was true, and even my mother wouldn't have objected to any of them. He hid the list in his desk drawer.

For several days, nothing happened out of the usual. But on day four, Sally came into his office positively glowing. "Oh Bob, would you like some more coffee? What about a newspaper? There are some very nice doughnuts down the hall. Would you...?"

Her lovely, bouncy mood lasted for days. My dad just smiled to himself and hid his candy bars somewhere else. All he'd wanted was the answer to a simple question, and he'd gotten it.

posted by Jeanette Cottrell @ 5:59 PM

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