Deep Breath, Remain Calm
today i found myself in a strangely unique situation, i felt slightly out of character even though i think my actions were justified, i still feel like i should have handled the situation differently just because i don't normally deal with people in this manner. anytime i'm in a situation that requires collaboration i know and expect there to be disagreements, that's just the nature of the beast particularity when creativity is involved. Its not uncommon for me to bump heads with this guy, in fact i think that on all 6 of the separate occasions we have worked together, at some point or another there was tension between us. with this current project there's already been an insane amount of time and money poured into it so on top of everything else i believe emotions were running a little high because this thing is over budget and looking like its going to be over due.
i'm sitting down working closely with the engineer and we are trying to iron out some of the details and fix a few things that require a massive amount of know how when all of a sudden i notice that this task has become the love child of mine and the engineer. to avoid confrontation i decide to focus on the overall progress of the project and ignore the fact that the person with the most to gain or lose from this is sitting in a corner reading a magazine.
the engineer and i are getting closer to the goal we set out to reach when from the back of the room i hear:
why don't you two just use the preset used on the reference rendering!?
by the tone in his voice and look on his face it was quite obvious that in his mind, we were doing something wrong. i guess he had enough of us not getting it right? for a split second i debate how i'm going to respond and decide:
because there is no preset for what was used, and there is an insane amount variants and settings to consider in order to get this the way you originally suggested.
he slowly sinks back into the sofa and resumes his magazine face plant, which he clearly wasn't interested in, i glance over at the engineer he shrugs his shoulders and we continue to work.
[fast forward]
the clock has run down on the time allotted for the project when its decided we can work an extra hour over if i made the lunch run. i didn't drive my car so i asked mr. magazine face if he would run me up to a place to grab the engineers food. he reluctantly agrees and we are off to our destination. i'm not one for small talk, i just don't know how i guess and i knew this ride would be awkward since he had some sort of attitude so i just decided to ask about the project.
So what do you think of everything so far?
i don't know, it doesn't even matter i cant say anything anyway
what are you talking about?
every time i try to say something you two act like i'm dumb and make it seem like i don't know what i'm talking about so i don't even care anymore do whatever you want
i sit quiet for a moment trying to think of a way to counter his bullshit in a tactful way...what a struggle. then he smirks and does this shaky head thing which for some reason sent me over the edge
okay, so what the fuck is your problem?
[smirkingly] i'm not the one with the problem...
you know what? i'm sick of you and your bullshit. every time we work together there is always drama do you honestly expect me to sit here and go through a checklist of what to say and how not to upset you then play a game of 21 questions in the event that i hurt your punk ass feelings?...no. you're a grown man i'm not going to handle you with kid gloves, you don't like the way i do things, fine. find someone else to work with.
[dead silence only to be broken by]
welcome to arby's can i take your order
i scream the order from the passenger side, we get the food and as we are pulling out
yea the effect you were doing before we left is the closest to the reference since y'all started working on it.
...
its turning out a lot better than what i thought it would
good
we get back to the place to resume work and suddenly he has a renewed interest and is giving input and suggestions. we still didn't finish but that's okay we made progress. later i apologized for talking to him the way i did. he acknowledged that it was his fault and he did have an attitude and he basically aligned himself with everything i said about him acting like a bitch, which i don't for one second believe he believes, i think he's trying to appeal to my comments for the sake of future work...whatever.