We share a floor with a company which has only a handful of employees. They seem to do a lot of work outside the office which means that frequently there is nobody there. There is a particular gentleman who calls upon this office every once in awhile and when there’s nobody to greet him, he always comes over to our office to ask if he can use our phone.

Our introduction to him was by way of him yelling through the stairwell at a colleague that someone he encountered was ‘one weird dude.’ Personally I’m convinced he was just speaking in third person about himself.

So what is the purpose of all this backstory? Of course, it all comes back to the Riddler. Note that we have very few clients, and work is scarce. Mostly due to Riddler’s ineptitude and inability to grasp the concept that you really do need clients to earn income. Still..

So, Riddler and I are having a discussion when in walks One Weird Dude asking if he can use the phone. While he does so, we continue our conversation and eventually One Weird Dude returns to thank us. And this is where he asks, ‘What do you guys do by the way, if you don’t mind me asking?’

Riddler:
(averting his gaze, as if this is a very difficult and embarassing personal question) “Software development”

This was the first time I heard him provide this generic useless answer in response to this question. Usually it’s loaded with grand acronyms and ridiculous assertions about our brilliance, but at least mention our general field of expertise.

One Weird Dude:
Software development? Maybe we could do some business together. Do you have a business card?
Riddler:
Umm, no. Not on me right now.

Remember. We’re sitting in our office. Riddler is 20 feet from his office where there’s a stack of business cards. He’s 10 feet from the supply area where there’s a stack of business cards.

(One Weird Dude is looking confused as to why Riddler’s offering no effort whatsoever to even provide a business card to someone who’s potentially offering some paying work.)

One Weird Dude:
Well, I’m looking to get some web site work done, programming to display some data and provide reports…
Riddler:
Oh yeah. (Insert very awkward silent moment here.)
One Weird Dude:
Umm. Ok. Bye.

So, given a potential new piece of work, Riddler tries to hide what we do, expresses complete apathy, doesn’t even bother to offer a business card, and basically shrugs him off. We are NOT loaded with an abundance of paying jobs right now. In fact, our last few projects have been cancelled, gone off the rails, or are teetering on the brink of self-immolation. His behaviour was bizarre.

Then again, that’s sort of what defines the Riddler.