Manage and spank me

I get along well with my manager. He revealed an interesting tidbit of information over lunch on Friday.

A few years ago, there was a manager who was in charge of technical support. He apparently had a conversation with my boss. He told him, "You need to manage Cutiebootie."

It's funny. He never mentioned anything to me until now. This support manager left the company around three years ago.

Several years ago, this manager told me to change a set of tabs in a spreadsheet. He wanted the most current tab at the end. I indicated that it didn't make sense. The most current tab should be at the front. He was adamant that he was right.

What did I do? I gave him an updated spreadsheet with his changes. After that, I flipped it back to having the most current tab at the beginning. I proceeded to slap on a password on this spreadsheet. It was evident that he wanted access to this file. It was also obvious that he didn't know how to use Excel, for I had to do a ton of work to restore it.

I owned this spreadsheet. This manager did not.

I pointed out this episode with my manager, who wasn't my boss back there.

"That doesn't make sense to have that current tab at the front," he agreed.
"I know. He probably wasn't thrilled that I shunned him out of the spreadsheet," I admitted.
"He was afraid of you and didn't know how to approach you. So, he talked to me," he revealed.
"Did you say anything to him?" I asked.
"Nope. He asked me to manage you. I didn't say anything. You were doing a fantastic job. I didn't need to say anything," he said.

I like who I was back then, standing up for what I believe was best for both the customer getting this spreadsheet and for me. Luckily, I haven't changed.

I told my guy this story. He found it amusing that this manager was intimidated by me.

"I wonder what would happen if you were my manager and I locked you out of this spreadsheet," I pondered.
"I think you know what would happen to that cute butt of yours," he smirked.
"I'd enjoy the consequences, I'm sure," I noted.
"I liked the offices back in the old office place. I would call you into my office, close the door, bend you over the desk, and spank you hard for being such a bad girl," he replied.

He's sweet. I miss those offices, too.