The Guy Flapping His Arms
There is a guy — or girl — that you work with, or maybe you worked with once, or maybe he's in some volunteer group you're in, but anyway, he's always flapping his arms and telling you how busy he is, and how everything's out of control. Things, he frantically tells you, are crazy. You've noticed that he's usually, either right before or right after telling you this, checking or sending e-mails on a PDA.
The thing that this guy — or girl — is trying to tell you in subext is, "I'm important."
The thing he is actually saying, most of the time, is, "I'm not very well organized, and I can't set priorities very well, either."
Addendum: And let's be clear about this — I've been that guy before, and I'll probably be that guy again. And let's also be clear that busy isn't bad. It's the arm-flapping I'm calling out.
Comments
Why are you looking at me like that?
I had two (well, three) slightly closer people in mind, actually, but if you keep flapping, I guess you might get my attention. :)
I loved being that guy at my last job, sans arm flapping. I was pretty laid back about checking my email and fantasy baseball all day. Now that I work for myself, it seems pretty silly though, and consequently, I suck at fantasy baseball this year, ha ha. Luckily checking my email is part of my job.