Work grief

So I had my morning planned to go conduct inspections that need to be done soon. I was heading out the door when my manager forwarded an email from my manager. A citizen group was requesting information for a specific industry, and my manager wanted the information by noon. No problem. Except that the group didn't define what they were looking for. So my supervisor, manager, DCL and I talked back and forth trying to figure out a solution to what this group wanted. We began looking at our online database. I worked on a spreadsheet that they group forwarded, so that all our information wouldn't get lost. After an hour or so of back and forth on the phone, I thought "Why don't we just call this group and ask them exactly what they want, instead of trying to guess." So I left a message.

They called back during lunch, so when I returned, I told my supervisor we needed to call the group back. He called my manager, and they decided they were not going to call them back and I got a little rebuke for calling the group in the first place. I got fussed for taking the initiative to try and find out exactly what was meant in her email so we wouldn't be wasting time trying to guess. So we have spent 4+ hours so far working on this information that we aren't even sure is the right information to begin with. And looking in our database for information from as far back as 2005 is NOT easy. If all this info is pooled together, and sent, and the group says that is not what they wanted, I am going to get mad. I am already mad about not calling them. Why don't men take the easier route? Instead of wasting our efforts and resources, we could find out detailed instructions about what they want. Men.

Needless to say, I have to wait until Monday to go conduct my inspections.