Parker: Real-estate stress opens door to pranks
by Penny Parker
Denver Post
December 8, 2009
State employees are feeling the pinch of the real estate downturn, too. State-mandated furloughs and the hiring freeze have contributed to the Real Estate Division’s stress and burnout.
In an effort to pump up Cary Whitaker, manager of the mortgage broker program “” the program that has the most complaints and fewest employees “” division staff members decided to punk him while he was on vacation.
They installed a doorbell in his ceiling tiles and passed around the remote that rang the bell to anyone who had been annoyed by Whitaker’s crankiness.
For a week, staff randomly rang the doorbell, torturing Cary while he answered calls, drafted a mortgage company bill and generally tried to do his work, all in an effort to get him to laugh.
“I learned of the prank last Tuesday and decided it was inappropriate,” said Erin Toll, director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate. “By Wednesday, I was asking for the doorbell and ringing it like crazy. State employees are people, too.” Continue reading “Office Stress Management Pranks”