Republican Paralegal: crying wolf

Republican Paralegal is in a bad mood. She took yesterday off, and before the Thanksgiving holiday she was mad at The Boss and Office Manager. Republican Paralegal was upset with The Boss' decision about a potential case, and took it personally. She told me about it briefly, before spending the rest of the day silently fuming.

This morning, I asked if she was still upset. Republican Paralegal said that she had calmed down but that the ordeal still kinda bugged her. I (rightfully) sided with The Boss and tried to explain why I thought Republican Paralegal was wrong.

This is the third or fourth time that Republican Paralegal has been upset with The Boss in the eight or so months she's been here. One time, she even looked for another job and went interviewing. I don't know whether she got an offer. Apparently, I am the only one Republican Paralegal feels comfortable enough to talk with about all this. No one else in the office knows that she has misgivings with The Boss' approach, let alone that she's a Republican. She told me once that she is afraid to express these things, as she thinks they will cause discomfort and personal ridicule on the work front. She's probably right, I don't think The Boss would let her live it down if he knew her political beliefs. And so I have been sworn to secrecy.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Part of me doesn't want Republican Paralegal to leave. She's nice and takes an interest in my life. She tells me how great I am and Lex likes that. On the other hand, she's a hard-core God person. That is hard for me to handle. I'm the only Atheist in the office, but feel like Republican Paralegal is the only one who holds it against me. She can't fathom the idea that someone could not believe in any sort of after life or higher power. Also, she told me recently that it offends her slightly when I say "cheese and rice" instead of "Jesus Christ." I was like "seriously? the whole point is to be more respectful to believers..." Her feeling is that, even though I am saying Cheese and Rice, I really mean Jesus Christ - so it's just as offensive. Cheese and rice. Whatever.

I wish that if she were going to quit, she would just quit. Every month or so she gets butthurt about something and decides that this might not be the sort of place she can work at. She talks about getting a different job. Then she gets over it. If she quits, I'll be the one doing all the intake work, screening potentials and whatnot. I did that for awhile before she started, and it totally sucks.

Part of me wants her to quit right now so that I am in a better position to renegotiate with The Boss. That's mean. But I'm practical. This is a small office, if Republican Paralegal quit, everybody else would immediately become more valuable. I would hate to strike a deal with The Boss only to have Republican Paralegal quit two weeks later when I could no longer use it to my advantage. But I don't think she's going to quit. I think she has thin skin and lets things get under it too easily. It's a little frustrating - one day all I hear about is how she can't work in an uncomfortable environment and moral work ethics and blah, Blah, BLAH... and then the next day it's no big deal. And no one knows it but me. To everyone else, she's totally committed to the firm, but I know better.