Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
Have you ever taken the blame for something you didn’t do, or let someone else take the blame for something you did?
About 12 years ago, I started a new job and I was working with this Italian lad Carlo. He was the same age and played footy etc. so it was very easy to settle in. On my first day he took me round and introduced me to what he called ‘The Top Ten’ girls in work. Giving me the background and his tips for each one as we went round. It was a bit weird cos most of them weren’t even in our department, and we basically skipped meeting anyone work related if they weren’t female, but I appreciated it all the same. Girl number 11 was his girlfriend who was also Italian. She was nice, but nowhere near the standards of any of his top ten.
Anyway a few months later, we were talking on the work messenger system which I guess was like an early version of instant messenger, as his top ten had changed with new starters etc. He had always been infatuated by the girl who had hired me Paola, who was also Italian. To be fair she did have something about her and was a bit of a flirt and was one of those who touch a lot. He was like a dog on heat though and she’d do it just to tease him. Anyway this day we’re joking about, sending messages etc. when he looks over to me and starts laughing, as if he’s just sent the funniest joke ever to me. I’d received nothing so just shrugged. He suddenly started studying his pc like never before, but the problem with this messenger system was you couldn’t see easily the message you had just sent.
Next thing his pc beeps and he just goes white! He looked like he was about to throw up, he comes running round to my desk and tells me he just sent a message saying how he wanted to take Paola in to the meeting room which was right next to our desks, and have his way with her. He’d been quite graphic in what he wanted to do to her, he was telling me. But instead of sending it to me, he’d sent it to his girlfriend! He basically begged me to send her a message (from my pc) saying I’d sent it from his pc to her by mistake and it was supposed to have been sent to someone else! Naturally I was mega reluctant at first, but he was white as a ghost by now and panicking big time.
I agreed and sent a message to his girlfriend saying I was sorry and it wasn’t meant for her and it was nothing to do with him etc. She just replied ok, nothing else, but I’m guessing she believed me as he would have sent it in English as he thought he was sending it to me.
Needless to say I was never invited round for dinner again, and his girlfriend never spoke to me after that either. Paola was even more friendly towards me from the next day onwards and if she was going to that meeting room, she’d stop at the door, hold it open and say ‘Hi Ralphy, are you in this meeting?’, and give me a smile.
Marco and his girlfriend left about 6 months later, as she had to go back to Italy for a different role, and he'd got one as well. They split up not long after.
Where are they now
Ralphy – still at the same place just in a different role
Marco – Back in Italy engaged to some Hungarian stunner
Paola – back in Italy, has since left the company
His Girlfriend – just about to receive a meeting invite from me, she’s now quite high up in our Italian office.
About 12 years ago, I started a new job and I was working with this Italian lad Carlo. He was the same age and played footy etc. so it was very easy to settle in. On my first day he took me round and introduced me to what he called ‘The Top Ten’ girls in work. Giving me the background and his tips for each one as we went round. It was a bit weird cos most of them weren’t even in our department, and we basically skipped meeting anyone work related if they weren’t female, but I appreciated it all the same. Girl number 11 was his girlfriend who was also Italian. She was nice, but nowhere near the standards of any of his top ten.
Anyway a few months later, we were talking on the work messenger system which I guess was like an early version of instant messenger, as his top ten had changed with new starters etc. He had always been infatuated by the girl who had hired me Paola, who was also Italian. To be fair she did have something about her and was a bit of a flirt and was one of those who touch a lot. He was like a dog on heat though and she’d do it just to tease him. Anyway this day we’re joking about, sending messages etc. when he looks over to me and starts laughing, as if he’s just sent the funniest joke ever to me. I’d received nothing so just shrugged. He suddenly started studying his pc like never before, but the problem with this messenger system was you couldn’t see easily the message you had just sent.
Next thing his pc beeps and he just goes white! He looked like he was about to throw up, he comes running round to my desk and tells me he just sent a message saying how he wanted to take Paola in to the meeting room which was right next to our desks, and have his way with her. He’d been quite graphic in what he wanted to do to her, he was telling me. But instead of sending it to me, he’d sent it to his girlfriend! He basically begged me to send her a message (from my pc) saying I’d sent it from his pc to her by mistake and it was supposed to have been sent to someone else! Naturally I was mega reluctant at first, but he was white as a ghost by now and panicking big time.
I agreed and sent a message to his girlfriend saying I was sorry and it wasn’t meant for her and it was nothing to do with him etc. She just replied ok, nothing else, but I’m guessing she believed me as he would have sent it in English as he thought he was sending it to me.
Needless to say I was never invited round for dinner again, and his girlfriend never spoke to me after that either. Paola was even more friendly towards me from the next day onwards and if she was going to that meeting room, she’d stop at the door, hold it open and say ‘Hi Ralphy, are you in this meeting?’, and give me a smile.
Marco and his girlfriend left about 6 months later, as she had to go back to Italy for a different role, and he'd got one as well. They split up not long after.
Where are they now
Ralphy – still at the same place just in a different role
Marco – Back in Italy engaged to some Hungarian stunner
Paola – back in Italy, has since left the company
His Girlfriend – just about to receive a meeting invite from me, she’s now quite high up in our Italian office.
