Small Mistake, Big Paddle

Those who know me are well aware I’ve had no aspirations to work, ever. So it was a real shock to everyone (including me) when I got a part time job. More accurately though, my brother got me a part time job. At first I was really excited. I mean I haven’t worked before in a way that actually gave me a check at the end of a week and that part was really cool.

The job is simple enough. I wander in off the bus at 10:15 AM and find my desk which is about 12 steps from the front door. Really, really, easy to find. That’s on purpose of course. My job is to greet those poor unfortunate souls that my boss calls clients and instruct them to wait while I inform said boss that his appointments have arrived. He prefers a quick IM to my popping my head into his office which is fine by me. Other than that seemingly useless job, I also get to answer the telephone with an obnoxious (supposedly friendly) phrase and take messages which I email to the appropriate person within the office. It’s a small group and they are rarely too busy to take a call but the office policy dictates they must call their clients back directly instead of receiving the calls. Don’t ask me why cause the only answer I’ve got goes like this, “It’s our policy.” Lame? Yes. Do I care? Not really. It is just a part time job and I’m not going to change the world or the office in my 20 hours a week.

Working has brought a lot of positive things to my life. I love the daily routine of getting up and going someplace. The work itself isn’t challenging and to be honest that part kind of sucks, but I have to admit it feels good to walk into an office where I can freely say I contribute something, even if the contribution is a little lame. I appreciate the effort my brother went to in order to get me the job and the fact he even thought of it. My boss, who is also good friends with my brother, also did quite a bit to make it all work out for me. As a result I feel like I have an obligation to both of them to do my job perfectly.

Perfection however, is not attainable. I’ve made my share of mistakes, especially the first few days. Nothing major, sending messages to the wrong person, I mean my boss was a little upset when I sent him an email saying his wife was pregnant when he isn’t even married and of course the poor guy who was waiting to hear from his wife was damn near hyperventilating by the time message made it to him, but it was all minor and quite funny too. Everyone was very understanding and after a few days I got things down pretty well. The mistakes became more and more minor and less and less often. I was feeling quite proud of myself.

But

All good things

Come to an end.

My boss decided that he needed to shake things up and instead of having a meeting in his office like normal he went out for one. Seems like no big deal. Boss out of the office equals party time. Right? No, no, no. We didn’t. We wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. I mean I am still grateful for the opportunity and the paycheck. It’s nice not having to beg my parents for the things I want.

The problem was he asked me to simply collect all his messages into one email and send it when he got back. Simple? Yes. Different? Definitely? Prone to mistakes? Absolutely.

You guessed it. I messed it up. I felt awful. I collected all his messages (I think there were 18) and as soon as he walked in the door, I sent them.

Oops.

I mean I deleted them. It was an honest mistake. My boss was disgusted, but not angry. He tried to make me feel better, bought me a bottle of coke and told me an amusing story about a mistake he made once a long time ago when he was young fallible. (Now he’s just old and prone to falling (not really but it sounded good)).

He really made it sound alright. I still felt bad because I hadn’t wanted to let him down and maybe I’m a little too hard on myself (he said so). He actually blamed himself for the whole thing because if he’d just had me do my job as I had been doing it, at worst he might have lost a message but probably none. Instead, because he wanted to make his life slightly easier (I guess 1 email is simpler than 18) he’d made things infinitely more complicated.

Everything was fine. We mutually apologized and work went back to normal. To be honest I still felt bad about my mistake, but all I could really do was take care not to repeat it.

But,

Just when I’d almost completely forgotten about the whole thing, it came up again.

I was over at my brother’s house for the weekend and my boss stopped by to visit (My brother not me). With me being there, it was probably unavoidable that my brother would ask how I was performing and so on. My boss was quick to compliment me for doing an excellent job and I beamed with a little pride. It was exactly what I wanted my brother to hear after everything he’d done to make the job a reality for me.

My brother was quite naturally dumbfounded to hear about the perfect angel my boss described. You can’t really blame him. I’ve never displayed such maturity in any other aspect of my life. He couldn’t resist the urge to ask more specific questions which inevitably led to my boss’s revelation of the incident above. It was told in good humor, but I couldn’t exactly hide my lingering shame at the unfortunate accident. My brother clearly caught on to that. He was shocked his friend had laughed the matter off as trivial.

My brother quickly launched into a tirade about how unacceptable my carelessness had been. Much as I might have liked to argue with him, deep down I agreed with everything he was saying. It took him a few minutes of debating the matter with my boss, but eventually even my boss found himself agreeing that it was a bigger deal than he’d previously let on. From there it was a relatively simple matter for the two of them to agree I not only deserved but needed a spanking for my carelessness.

Needless to say, I was both embarrassed and excited by the prospect of being spanked in front of my boss. I completely agreed I deserved it, but the thought of my boss seeing me spanked like a little girl was more than a little frightening. Would he still have any respect for me when it was over? I was afraid I didn’t want to find out, but the decision was no longer in my hands.

My shoes came off. My dress came off. My panties came off. My bra came off. My hands interlaced themselves on top of my head and I faced my brother and my boss with a red face. It seemed like an eternity that my brother lectured me in that pose. I keenly felt the humiliation which was only tempered by the knowledge I had earned the spanking I was soon to receive.

Finally, I was ordered to bend over and grab the sides of the coffee table. My brother lifted his intimidating paddle and gave me 18 burning licks, one for each lost message. I was crying early on and by the last swat I was sobbing. When allowed to stand I leapt into the air and jumped up and down while wringing my helpless hands in the air. You see, rubbing isn’t allowed and so all I could do was dance around to try and ease the nearly unbearable stinging in my rear. The act itself was humiliating but it was so instinctual I couldn’t help but do it.

My boss stayed for dinner. I spent the meal (and most of the evening) standing in a nearby corner. My hands were folded atop my head and my bare red butt was clearly visible for all to see. It was tremendously embarrassing (It’s meant to be) but I felt a little better despite the discomfort. In fact, by the time I went back to work, I no longer felt so guilty over my mistake. My boss hasn’t mentioned the spanking, but I have a feeling if I make a mistake again, I’ll hear about it in the (rear)end.