Lap Dog Toadies

The title of today's post comes from an expression used by one of the coolest Walmart associates I have ever had the privilege to know. Erin is an older lady who used to be quite pleasant, I am sure. But the years of working at the courtesy desk took their toll on her. Too many years of listening to con artists try to return stereo boxes filled with bricks and other assorted crooked dealings have seemed to have stripped Erin of her faith in her fellow man. Or woman. While standing behind the courtesy desk, Erin has has a lot of time to observe her fellow associates. The one group that she saves the most scorn for is the group that never seems to have any work that is more important that kissing the butt of whoever they perceive to be in charge. And this group can switch puckers in mid sentence if they have to. Which brings me to the question-why would you demean yourself like that? Were you genetically enhanced to remove all self respect from your self? Or do you honestly think that this is how people move ahead in their jobs? Even the answer to the question fills me with pity. There are many other names for a lap dog toady. Some of the printable ones include :butt kisser, brown noser, and suck up. But they all have the same characteristics, don't they? They seem to be born with that sixth sense of ferreting out the person in charge and wheedling over there to them. It used to be a good time to watch a switch in management so that you could watch all the toadies bickering and jockeying for position. Watching that is better than stamp collecting any day. In my opinion,Walmart should have a special class for management that teaches them how to suss out these toadies and keep that at a distance. They might gain the respect of the associates who are actually working, and perhaps get rid of a few that aren't. But enough of the daydreams. This is another subject that I don't have an answer for. I am open to any (printable) suggestions for what to do about them. I'll be more than happy to pass on any ideas that work. And then everyone can just thank me later.