Sociopath: noun

"A person...who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience." - Sociopath.

This link http://www.cix.co.uk/~klockstone/spath.htm will take you to an excerpt from "The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout, Ph.D. It talks about how sociopaths are unable to feel empathy towards other people, they love to be in charge of a small group of people and find ways to make those people feel bad about themselves, they are quick to blame people for mistakes, they have an air of self-importance and they can easily turn their fake charm off and on according to the situation.

This, my friends, perfectly describes The Devil Wears Wal-Mart. I figured it out (as they sing in the Pajama Game), and it only took me three weeks! That's got to be a record. So, my summer job has me working for a textbook sociopath...fantastic! That would explain why I sobbed for 10 blocks, 3 avenues and a subway ride home today after fixing a mistake that the printer made. Yes, I failed to notice it when I picked up the printing this morning, so I guess I should have sat at the printer and flipped through 40 booklets to make sure every single page was exactly correct. Silly me for thinking that A: the printers would do their job correctly and B: the 8 documents I DID look through, which were perfectly fine, were a sufficient test sample. And of course only 2 out of the 40 documents were slightly wonky, but that was enough to merit a lecture about responsibility and "doing what I tell you." This goes along with the empathy issue. The DWW is unable to recognize that people have lives outside of the office and could possibly get distracted, make mistakes or have an "off" day. I am working for this loony-bird full time while also taking a graduate class for my second Master's degree and interviewing for new jobs in the fall (because ain't no way I'm working here a day over contract). Busy? You betcha. So I apologize that I didn't have time to listen to your 45 minute voicemail this morning on my way to work. I was busy...doing work!

This responsibility lecture came right after I was asked if I knew how to use a highlighter. Do I know how to use a highlighter? That's like asking if I'm confident in my knowledge of the alphabet or if I am capable of using my hands. Hi, I'm Rachel. I formally studied piano for 18 years, so yes, I am confident in my highlighting skills and I am in full control of my muscular dexterity, thanks. Simply stunning.

My favorite interactions with the DWW yesterday included excessive name-dropping and insistence that I need to check my voicemail even when I'm on the subway (a physical impossibility, but sure, why not?). The name-dropping was particularly funny because it was a person that we had never heard of and did not care about, but the DWW made sure to mention it every time a new person entered the room, which was at least 5 times. Oy!

"What a piece of work is man." - Shakespeare