Ironically, when Working Overtime, one cannot expect a high level of productivity. In fact, managers would do better to expect the opposite, as so much time and energy is put into training just one employee, there is little time and energy left over for anything else. The Housekeeping Staff, for instance, cops an attitude and goes on break until the overtime stretch is completed. The Kitchen Staff, too, is often sighted kicking back, filing nails and flipping through magazines until it's too late to plan or make a dinner; then they call and order take out. It's completely audacious, but employees will take advantage of The Manager's preoccupation.

Although Overtime has its purpose, and although it is too hectic a time at the company to expect operations to run smoothly, it is still disheartening to see employee progress backslide. Of course, The New Guy cannot be expected to work well on The Night Shift during Overtime. It would be lovely, though, if K.Lo would. On the other hand, it also makes logical sense that while The Manager is attending so intensively to N.Lo, K.Lo might generally feel neglected. She might scream, whine, and dance The Unhappy Dance whenever The Manager steps two feet away, much less out of the room. She might look panicked at regular intervals, reach out her arms, and say, "Up up up up up up up up up?" approximately 1,200 times. Her face might turn pink, her hair might rat up, and she might just be absolutely pitiful.

She might, with this steady fire of discontent, light the fuse of impatience that will burn its way up to The Manager and eventually explode.

It's also very possible that K.Lo is teething, and/or that her diapers are bothering her, or maybe she's just in a bad mood. Sometimes a manager will never know exactly what is bothering her employee. Regardless of the "why" behind whatever she is going through, it is difficult to manage with patience, particularly during overtime. And frustrating that the problem might be lessened or nonexistent if overtime weren't occurring at all.

The Manager just needs to remember (once again!), This too shall pass.