In order to be promoted most places have some sort of performance evaluation reports (PER) which are filled by the applicant, commented on by the reporting officer, under whom you worked directly and signed by the counter signing officer who presided over both. The role of the counter-signing officer is envisaged to be that of a supervisor, a sort of checker to avoid subjectivity and personal clashes or otherwise affecting the PER. Unfortunately, if you are Murphy’s favorite the countersigning turns out to be a pain in the ass, a mean individual with values the size of a neutrino who believes in equating the score for whatever obstacles, perceived or otherwise, life has thrown his way by taking it out on others. This is the precisely the reason why after a fruitless week I see a friend on the verge of homicide/suicide tearing-hair-smoking-nostrils-run-amok trying to pin down the blasted counter so he can do what is a responsibility he is paid for but is starting to feel like a privilege he is being magnanimous enough to bestow!

In a system where if a man’s mettle was judged by how they treated those over whom they have power this is a world full of pygmies if not less…a place where the whole system is held hostage to the few impudent enough to be blatantly rude and vile while the silent majority does what it excels at….staying silent and accommodating we are in for a far worse time then what we face now! Have a happy week!