Thursday, June 30, 2005

how did i get here?

today should have been like any other day. i got up, trotted off to work, grabbed the bus, mixed with the grey suit throng, squeezed into an overcrowded (and rather smelly) lift, and made my way to my office. Ok who am I kidding, it's a cubicle. But it seems cubicles are the modern office anyway. For at least 8 hours a day this small two meter by two meter area is my home. I sit there and the only glimpse of the outside world is this tiny little window on the wall opposite me. And today, while i filed my umteenth report I looked out the window and wondered what i was missing out there. Surely something more exciting than Expense Report CX192 was going on. And I had this feeling i was missing it. And i wondered how did i get here?

Looking around me, I saw my future. A small cubicle makes way for a bigger one (double the size mind you) then a self contained office near the kitchen, then slowly after a few years I work my way through a maze of offices along the wall until finally some half assed promotion finds me in a corner office with a view. That was it. Right there all laid out in the floor plan of this corporate world. There was my future. And right then and there I had this sudden urge to grab my bag and run screaming for the exit.

So in a moment of defiance (to me anyway) I grabbed my bag and just as i was ready to make a run for it all these stupid thoughts started popping in my head. What if someone saw me leaving? Would I get fired? Would I then lose my apartment? The respect of my Mum and Dad? How would I survive? And what about my chances of finally making employee of the month? (it was looking good this month.)

So I sat for a moment stewing in my own fears, and then I figured what have I got to lose? What if i took the afternoon off? What if every week I decided to take an afternoon off and do something i wanted to do?

So I did.

I got up, headed for the lift and took the rest of the day off. I ended up catching Sin City, which I have to tell you is pretty cool. And I have to tell you sitting in the dark munching on a choc top is way more appealing than another expense claim. lol.

And so far so good. No screaming boss on my voice mail. No frantic "where are you?" e-mails. I guess I'll see how tomorrow goes.

POSTED BY THE ZERO MOVEMENT AT 6:06 AM

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