No Respect

(With all apologies to Mr. Dangerfield.)

I've been supervisor at my current job now for a little over 3 months. In that time, I've learned of a new level of egotism that I'd never even dreamed existed.

It's a beautiful spring morning, and I'm sitting at the guard desk, greeting visitors, BSing with tenants and regulars, when I look up from some paperwork and see none other than the chief of police standing at my desk.

"Good morning, sir, how can I help you?" I say.

"Well," he says with a slightly befuddled look on his face, "I was sent here by the guard at the building across the way - they said they don't have a bathroom, but you do."

Truth be told, we don't have a public bathroom. No office buildings in the downtown area - of a certain calibre - do. But he's the chief of police. "Sir," I explain, we don't have a public bathroom, but I respect law enforcement and I'll let you use our bathroom. Come this way, please?"

I let him in the bathroom, and as I am walking away, the general manager of the management company stops me and says, "What was that?"

"That was Chief -------," I respond with a shake of my head. "Can you believe they wouldn't let him use their restroom across the way?"

"Yes," she says. "And I don't want to see you ever let anyone use our restroom again! We don't have a public restroom, and I will not have you letting just anyone use it!"

I look at her, expecting to see a twinkle of "just kidding" in her eye, but, damn, she's serious. "I'm sorry," I say, "I respect law enforcement."

"I don't care if the president of the country asked for the bathroom, you don't let anyone use it!" she says, with the most imperious look in her eye, and then she stalks off down the hall to her office.

Small people.