Stories Of Life In A 7X7 Box

Most people spend the majority of the time they are awake at work. They may not be alert or attentive, but that is an entirely different issue all together. This creates a kind of Brady Bunch family dynamic where everyone learns to get along and suffer or succeed as a whole (albeit without a dog named Tiger) out of the sole fact that we were all forced together by some cosmic randomness…or our HR department.

For many office workers, the center of their work world is their workspace (i.e. their cubicle). This is obviously a very depressing thought. Some people attempt to personalize their workspace with photos of their families, newspaper cutouts, cartoons, etc. I have tried bamboo sticks, pink flamingo party beads and a whole bevy of other décor ideas, but nothing has worked. One of our coworkers has been on a mission over the last several months to extend his cube’s size by moving the wall he shares with another co-worker by a fraction everyday. So far, no one has noticed.

Despite the depressing walled-in environment in which we sometimes labor, working in a semi-open space does provide opportunities to collaborate with or receive the help of our co-workers. I was reminded of this yesterday when female co-worker expressed concern over whether or not she was spelling the word ‘doable’ correctly. All she had to do was ask aloud if she was spelling it correctly. What followed was at least fifteen minutes of everyone in the office yelling how they would spell it, providing alternatives to use and the office prerequisite: making fun of her. I asserted my seniority and suggested that we use the Spanish pronunciation of doable (phonetically pronounced as due-hable), but for some reason was overwhelmingly rejected. Of course doable has become the buzzword of the week. It turns out that doable is well, a doable word for many situations. Except maybe for this one, sorry.

Listening to music at work helps one get through the day. I began a practice a few years ago of using my office PC to play my cds. That practice has caught on and it’s now impossible to walk through our office without hearing a cacophony similar to the last 45 seconds of the Beatles’ ‘A Day in the Life.’ It is not uncommon on one pass through the office to hear gospel, standards, rock n roll, country and whatever the coworker next to me is playing (I’d ask but I don’t want to embarrass anyone or give the false impression that I am interested in it). I like bringing in Louis Prima, Ray Conniff or something else unique just to annoy my office mates. I do have to be careful now since for the first time in three years I have someone in the empty cubicle to my right. She put her computer facing the same wall as mine so I really have to monitor my music’s volume level (not to mention my talking to myself…I like to speak to myself in rhymes for some reason…I guess it’s just the season).

Like most offices, we have a break room. The drawback to having one is that this is the room where everyone prepares their meals. Have you ever smelled the combination of microwaved popcorn and chicken? Let’s just say that the lunch hours bring a stifling combination of scents as 20 different people prepare 20 different meals. It’s actually a good deterrent for hunger. There is a longstanding tradition in our office of people leaving bags of candy, popcorn or chips out that they don’t finish so that all can partake. I’ve always thought it was a nice gesture. However, why is it that whenever someone finishes the bag of food, they leave that empty bag out? Is it because they don’t want to feel the guilt of having finished it? Did they somehow not realize that when they removed their handful of fatty, salty goodness that there was no more left? Did it not occur to them that their fingers didn’t touch any other morsels while their hand was in the bag? I don’t understand it. Besides, I hate being teased and nothing is worse than walking into the break room for a glass of water and getting your hopes up when you see an unexpected bag of chips there for the taking, only to have your joy shattered by an empty bag! Folks in our office like doing the same thing with the last cup of coffee. I guess no one feels guilty thinking they have left a few drops for someone else. Ahh, the complexities of the human mind.

These are just some of the things experienced in our office on any given day. In rereading this, it almost sounds fun. I must have left something out. Oh yeah, I did. I forgot to mention the work. I think I turned to blogging as a vent or outlet in order to cope with working in a box all day. I just hope I can keep blogging because I think I’m going blind from staring at everyone’s beige cubicle walls and matching file cabinets. It doesn’t help that the guy across from me wore a shirt today that matched his office…