Time To Ask The Boss To Invest In More Desks

I work in a tax preparation office. One day when I’m scheduled to come in, I see that all four desks are occupied and all four computers are in use.

This isn’t a huge deal because I brought a book, so I go sit in the corner and read. It’s not like there’s anything I can do without clients, and no clients are in.

A client comes in. We check the schedule, and I’m told that the client is scheduled with me. No one else has any clients.

I ask each of my coworkers if I can use their desk and take a client. They each reply that they are busy with something and I cannot use their desk. I don’t see any clients anywhere. They could be doing drop-offs or something? But if so, good customer service says a client physically in the office needs to be seen to in a reasonable amount of time.

They tell me to use the server computer in the back. I try it. The tax software is not installed on the server computer in the back.

I go around the office asking again. I tell them that the server in the back is not usable. They don’t believe me and insist again that I use it. Once more, it does not work.

Finally, I convince one of them to go back to check the server in the back. I sit at my coworker’s desk, log out of the computer, log back in as me, and have the client sit with me. My coworker gets back, upset that I didn’t follow her into the back.

If I was clever I would have said something like, “Not my problem. You can use the computer in the back to work. I’ve got a client,” but I just shrug and keep working on the client until we are done.

After the client leaves, the coworker yells at me a bit and makes me promise never to do that again. Fortunately, one of the other workers leaves before the next client comes in, so there is finally a free desk.