We work with an outside agency to deal with most of our projects. Since I've been working at Super-Mondo Corporation (herewith known now as S.M.C), everyone's been bitching about them. Everytime they make a mistake, which happens, I hear an endless amount of griping about what a crappy job they do (not that it doesn't happen. And not that we don't make our fair share of mistakes or they don't catch a fair share of ours). I also hear that someday in the future, we'll let them go and take everything in-house.

With all sorts of re-orging going on, that day might be happening pretty soon. In fact, it's kind of sort of happening now. As a result, whenever they do something wrong, it's one more nail in an increasingly nailed shut coffin.

While I agree it's a smart business decision, I also know that the agency employs a whole bunch of people just working on our account. I know this because at one point, I actually interviewed for a position there when they got the account (irony of ironies, I know). The problem I'm having is that I'm thinking that a whole bunch of people might just get laid off when we pull the account and for obvious reasons, I'm a little sensitive towards people being laid off. I don't want to have anything to do with anyone getting laid off, no way, no how.

As a result, I find myself defending them a bit more than I should, or at least not playing in the little bashing games that people play when something happens. I've also been trying to throw them work, albeit pretty feebly (I don't have much sway in that regards). When I talk to one of them on the phone, especially totally cute AE who promised to give me bagels next time she's down at the office and who I know is a major-league stresser, I feel like warning them. And when stuff comes down, and something came down today, I feel caught in the middle of it all and hope I'm not seen as one of those people trying to pull the plug.