it tends to be more of a grimace than a smile, actually.

I recently found out that my boss's boss is concerned that I seem a bit "surly." His conclusion came from the fact that when he walks by my desk five times a day, I tend to keep working instead of dropping everything to give him a big smile and hello. Oddly enough, I doubt he'd have this problem if I was a dude.

This is a guy who talks a good game about equality for women, but the fact remains that his last two assistants were young women with long blonde hair (and he specifically said he didn't want to hire a male). One, who is a friend of mine, was called "Blondie" for two years instead of her actual name. When she cut OFF her long blonde hair, BossBoss was horrified, and a bit hurt that she hadn't asked for his permission before chopping it off. Whoever his assistant is, he stands over her shoulder-- oh, and he doesn't write email himself, because he has no interest in learning, so the assistant does that for him as well. Sometimes, he tugs on the assistant's hair.

Oh, and how could I forget-- he asked his 25-year old assistant why she wasn't married yet.

Anyway, I guess I'm submitting properly now, because when he walks by these days, I give him the big smile all nice ladies are supposed to wear, and I trill the most insincere bullshit I can think of, all because he actually went to my boss and said he thought I was maybe treating visitors to the office less than professionally. And when I pointed out he was full of it, she said "yes, well, he is the boss."

I kind of hate myself for shutting up and beaming like a good little girl, but I think I'll save what I really think until my promotion is final.