.  I got a call from another department in the hospital asking for work load figures for a particular time period for my section. Since I kept those on an Excel spreadsheet and updated them monthly I e-mailed the department a copy.  Then I got a call back and was told, "This needs to be typed up on letterhead."  I said, "Go ahead."  "We have a short suspense!" Meaning they needed to do it fast.  I said, "Then you'd better get started on it."  "You mean you aren't going to do this for us?"  I said, "No, I'm not. I provided you with my work load figures, as you asked, but I'm not going to do your work for you."  Besides, I knew what would happen: I'd type it up, and it'd be bounced back to me six times for changes, and the other department would get all the credit for my work. So I was going to stop it before it got started.  Believe me, I knew what would happen because I had been through it. I typed up a list of approved abbreviations as a favor to my boss, and I was still getting that paper boomerang back three years later. Seriously. People would call me up and demand to know why I had put X abbreviation on there instead of Y abbreviation, and I'd tell them, "Hey, I'm just the typist. You need to talk to Colonel Painintheneck, who's the project officer." I did notice, however, that once I started referring people to him I got a lot fewer phone calls.  I got a call from another department in the hospital asking for work load figures for a particular time period for my section. Since I kept those on an Excel spreadsheet and updated them monthly I e-mailed the department a copy.  Then I got a call back and was told, "This needs to be typed up on letterhead."  I said, "Go ahead."  "We have a short suspense!" Meaning they needed to do it fast.  I said, "Then you'd better get started on it."  "You mean you aren't going to do this for us?"  I said, "No, I'm not. I provided you with my work load figures, as you asked, but I'm not going to do your work for you."  Besides, I knew what would happen: I'd type it up, and it'd be bounced back to me six times for changes, and the other department would get all the credit for my work. So I was going to stop it before it got started.  Believe me, I knew what would happen because I had been through it. I typed up a list of approved abbreviations as a favor to my boss, and I was still getting that paper boomerang back three years later. Seriously. People would call me up and demand to know why I had put X abbreviation on there instead of Y abbreviation, and I'd tell them, "Hey, I'm just the typist. You need to talk to Colonel Painintheneck, who's the project officer." I did notice, however, that once I started referring people to him I got a lot fewer phone calls.  Good for you! I am sure some people only have jobs because they create double handling for all sorts of things that could be way simpler. I call these people 'Marketing Managers' and when Judgement day finally arrives they are first in line and I don't hold out much hope for them.  