people who take things way too seriously

For instance, my employee.

I said "I need you to alphabetize your client files. I can't update their records if I can't find their files."

She replied "my job is to sell, not to do filing."

"Well, if you don't alphabetize your card files, there will be (and I sang a silly duh duh duh dum, bad things are about to happen song here) dire consequences."

I said that with much waggling of the eyebrows and silly noises.

Yeah. Not much there to make a person take me seriously.

The next day I come into work and I find my employee talking to my manager in very hushed tones. Then my employee wouldn't talk to me. Management called me into their offices and bitched me out for threatening an employee. I told them what had gone on. They confronted my employee about this. She said to management, and I quote: "It's really hard to tell when Misanthropster is joking."

Management came back to me and said: "No more joking around with your employees."

Then, we had a two hour meeting about alphabetizing the card file.

Followed by a two hour meeting about employee morale.

Followed by another two hour meeting about something else so stupid that apparently I've blocked it out of my memory.

Life is great. I love my job. And my employee.