Which Reminds Me

I had always thought the receptionist in Haines City was a very nice person although much more friendly to Brenda than to me. She and Brenda often engaged in long conversations. I suppose that after Brenda left she missed having that chummy relationship with the reporter on duty. I always was much more introverted than Brenda, and when I was coming in and out of the front door of the building several times a day, sometimes sort of preoccupied in my mind and not saying anything after an interview, just wanting to get to my desk to start writing it down before I forget something, or turn in my film to the photo person, and thinking about all that stuff, so sometimes I would just be wanting to sneak in the building without having to talk to anyone, and then the receptionist started playing this game, saying hello when I come in and expecting me to stop and talk about something. If she had a story idea for me that would be great but it was more like she was starting to be my supervisor. She went to my boss, Max, and complained that I was not friendly enough to her, that there should be a rule that I am not allowed to sneak in the side door, that I must always smile and say hello and stop and talk every time I come in the front door and so forth. So those were my orders. So I did say hello sort of grimacing the next time but very annoyed at being ordered around as if a three-year-old. She was a nice person until she and Max got together over my head and then it was like I was on probation all the time.