Cling-on Syndrome

scottorr · May 2003

Have any of you ever had a new employee that thinks he has found a new best friend. I call these ee cling-ons. We recently had a new ee start that was from Canada. He does not know anyone in this area so he decided that I was his new best friend. He stops by my office two to three times a day. Always with a benefit question that he tries to convert into a conversation. I have attempted to give him info on local events so that he can meet new people. Unfortuately every time I suggest something, he wants me to go with him!

mjindra · May 2003

Oh Scott, I'm in the middle of my own personal Cling-On experience. We have an ee who is on Worker's Comp, (since August!!!), and we just recently brought him in doing some one-handed typing. th-down He's also in jail right now, (see my earlier post from last week, (Convicts, Jailbirds . . . ) so he's getting out on Huber to grace us with his presence. Anyways, we placed a table in the office hallway for him to work at, we had no other convenient place for him. He is "on the way" to everything. The bathroom, the lunchroom, the bubbler. Anytime I leave the safety of my office, he strikes up a conversation. Today at about 8:10 a.m., he offered me one of his spicy-chicken snacks that he picked up from Kwik Trip on his way to work. ("Do you like spicy food?" "No thanks, not at 8 a.m.") Grrrrrr! xx( (Yes, he picks up food on his way to work, even though he's getting out on Huber . . . these guys get away with everything). For whatever reason, he thinks I'm his buddy, probably because we're accommodating him with work and he doesn't have to sit in jail. If you have any suggestions on how I can shake my new buddy off my leg, please share!

Don D · May 2003

I'm still trying to figure out what huber is, or 'the bubbler'. What country are you in?

LindaS · May 2003

Don - Huber is a work releas program through county jails where inmates are allowed to leave jail to go to their jobs. They pay a fee for this privilege and are allowed one hour before, and one hour after, their shifts end to report to work.

As for the bubbler - try a water fountain.

Hope this helps!

mjindra · May 2003

Oh, the wrath of Dandy Don. I knew as soon as I hit SEND that I was going to hear about the BUBBLER. ::)

What do you get your fresh running water out of . . . a water fountain? Aren't those found outside, in front of fancy buildings?

As far as HUBER . . . when my "cream of the crop" employees are sent to jail, they are allowed out of jail to come to work. Huber. Come on, what do they call it where you are?

I'm from Wisconsin . . . thanks for asking!

Melissa

LindaS · May 2003

Melissa - I'm from Wisconsin as well so I COMPLETELY understood your terms!

mjindra · May 2003

Thanks for the support LindaS! If the rest of the country would just talk the right way, we wouldn't have these problems. Where in Wisconsin are you?

Mentel · May 2003

I am also from Wisconsin and have no problem understanding you. They probably don't know what pop is either. Too bad for them!

LindaS · May 2003

I grew up in Milwaukee but now live just north of Wausau. How about you?

mjindra · May 2003

Grew up in Whitelaw, now living in Valders. (Just west of Manitowoc). Does that help? x:D

Mentel · May 2003

I grew up in Chilton and now live in Burlington.

HRGirl · May 2003

Don obviously doesn't get out of Mississippi that much. x:o

I'm a lowly northern (not capitalized per Don's specifications) and could figure out what a bubbler was and what huber is...even though here, they are called exactly what they are...a water fountain and work release! /:)

mjindra · May 2003

Mississippi? That explains a little more about Don! Thanks for clarifying. :-) All in Fun!

mjindra · May 2003

Technically, isn't it Jail Release? Hmmm

HRsage · May 2003

I had no idea what the heck Huber meant either. In CA we just call it work release. I didn't know what the bubbler was either. We call it the water cooler. I'm going to have to start using "the bubbler" I like it, I'm sure I'll get some weird reactions.

Leslie · May 2003

I do to. Sounds very British, and I'm fairly fond of them right now!

Moria · May 2003

Rats! I saw Cling-on and thought this may be a Trekie session. Better check my spelling. 8-}

Don D · May 2003

Didn't know I would be stoned for asking. I've never heard of huber and wondered if it were an achronym or something. We had a toilet at deer camp that we used to call the bubbler. Thought I might ask before I misinterpreted something.

mjindra · May 2003

Sorry Don, I've noticed you dish it out pretty well sometimes, just thought we'd give it back to you! x:D

Don D · May 2003

I love it! I can take it with the best. I've been beat up over some threads on the Forum pretty severely with even an insult or two, most veiled, some not so. I laugh at myself more than at any other thing on earth. But, I did win the 'island contest' early last year and got to take 7 of my Forum friends for a secluded retreat at Forum expense. And Margaret won the monkey!

I've never spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express, but Christy did PROMISE me a t-shirt once.

ritaanz · May 2003

Sorry, Don, I stole the t-shirt out of your mail box. Eat your heart out. (That's NJ expression.) x;-)

scottorr · July 2003

The cling-ons have returned. Yesterday I posted a question about giving an ee a ride, today he thinks we are best friends. I'm sure in time this will fade as do all cling-on ees but it drives me crazy and you do not want to be mean. He wants to take me out to lunch to show his appreciation. I gracefully declined. Any new cling-on stories for anyone else.

mjindra · July 2003

Funny you should restart this message, just this morning I was rolling my eyes once again. My cling-on is STILL on light duty and STILL "typing". He comments about something everytime I enter the hallway where he sits, and it's always useless information. I can tell he's thinking pretty hard to come up with these comments. I feel like a prisoner. Anybody have any suggestions on how I get the message across to him that we're not buds?

AprilShowers · July 2003

You can't. Not without hurting his/her feelings. I have had two (one has left the company), cling ons that is, and they have both been pretty sensitive. Everytime I say no or need to be left alone they ask (asked) if I am mad at them. GEEZ! It's kind of embarrasing. Do you feel embarrased when your "buddy" bothers you at work? Just curious.

My advice: Keep saying no, and don't ever feel bad about it!

mjindra · July 2003

I would say I feel a little embarassed that he always chats with me, because this guy has been abusing light duty since August of last year, (there's a PI on the case, that's how out of hand it is) and he doesn't deserve special treatment (air conditioning, office work, chatting). It's tough to look at him there each day, much less be "clung-on" everytime I set foot within voice-range of him. Grrrrrr.

AprilShowers · July 2003

It's a frustrating situation to be in, you almost feel intruded upon. There is no good "head on" way to deal with the unwanted attention from a person that doesn't mean any harm to you if you are afraid of feeling/looking like a jerk. If your situation is like mine, you would welcome the attention, just in smaller, less frequent doses. You will need to slowly ween this person off of you. Start to become really busy and walk faster passed his desk. Tell him it's been a heck of a week, sorry gotta go! x;)

jmpmo · July 2003

I had this situation just start recently. One of our ee's heard I was an ex-nurse, so she is now coming to me to look at everything. On top of it, someone told her I volunteer with the Red Cross, so now she wants to do the same. I accidently keep forgetting to bring a volunteer app in with me. I wonder if she will figure it out? #-o

rad · July 2003

I have a cling-on here as well and its very difficult to dissuade her from talking to me about inane subjects without being rude...I try to give her my best "what are you talking about?" look but since I can't see my own face I have no idea what that really looks like or how effective it really is! But if we even have one conversation in a week she will continue to bring it up again and again like "wasn't that funny when you said..." And I think to myself, this is how my teen-aged sister behaves. She also tried to turn my break-up with a long term boyfriend into office gossip but luckily everyone knows how she is and ignored her...but she still tries, its really sad.

blw · July 2003

Try having papers in your hand every time you walk out of the office and appear to be deeply in engrossed in reviewing them as you walk right by and ignore him!

Cling-on Syndrome

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