Thursday, November 23, 2006
Taking One's Seat
(In lieu of a Thanksgiving post today and still trying to follow the letter of the NaBloPoMo rules, here's a piece I've been working on, off and on. Hope it's not excessively misanthropic).
It's lunch time here in mid-Delaware. Pickings are few for meal possibilities. Some folks bring their own and cram into a small unventilated room with a perpetually loud tv hanging on the ceiling, blasting soap operas or local news at you. Seating is limited, moods are low, and the smell of cleaning products puts a crinkle in your nose. So, most of us head out for grub during the work week.
Due to the high level of people contact I have at work, I tend to drive out solo. It's not that I don't like people...well, o.k., I don't (though I'm not alone on that issue) care for them...excessively. I'm happy, perfectly happy, sitting in an eating establishment with a newspaper or a book. I've seen more people doing this sort of thing where, years ago, I tended to get strange looks at times. But, no more "Whatcha readin' for?" comments or "We've got ourselves a reader" moments. Bill Hicks had left the room. Folks were taking up the printed word! Or, simply got tired of their fellow man.
Positioning the paper is important. It acts not just as reading matter but also as an indicator to anyone approaching your table that you're into some serious reading and "No, really, it's not you. It's an earth-changing article I have to get through before lunch is over", just will not come out right, no matter how carefully or succinctly you state it. So, after claiming a table I open the newspaper on the diagonal, shutting off one sode of a table completely. I tend to sit side-saddle at a table, indciating that I'm here only temporarily and I'll be off in a flash if unwanted social engagement is engaged in.
Not too friendly, right? Well, if you've been caught up in enough empty or dangerous conversations (they being any that stray into the minefield of office gossip), you know that silence and some down time from office life are necessary components of a safe scenario at work. The subscription to the NYT is a very cheap medication against the infection that I've seen enough folks suffer when they go out with colleagues from work. It's a guarantee that lunchtime will see someone getting loose or nervous and then finding themselves in trouble before they even leave the diner. I can't explain the viciousness of gossip; most of these folks are good people. Talk has a life of its own and it's your own life it may be claiming, if you're free with your thoughts and words. I'll stick to the paper, it's gossip I can deal with
It's lunch time here in mid-Delaware. Pickings are few for meal possibilities. Some folks bring their own and cram into a small unventilated room with a perpetually loud tv hanging on the ceiling, blasting soap operas or local news at you. Seating is limited, moods are low, and the smell of cleaning products puts a crinkle in your nose. So, most of us head out for grub during the work week.
Due to the high level of people contact I have at work, I tend to drive out solo. It's not that I don't like people...well, o.k., I don't (though I'm not alone on that issue) care for them...excessively. I'm happy, perfectly happy, sitting in an eating establishment with a newspaper or a book. I've seen more people doing this sort of thing where, years ago, I tended to get strange looks at times. But, no more "Whatcha readin' for?" comments or "We've got ourselves a reader" moments. Bill Hicks had left the room. Folks were taking up the printed word! Or, simply got tired of their fellow man.
Positioning the paper is important. It acts not just as reading matter but also as an indicator to anyone approaching your table that you're into some serious reading and "No, really, it's not you. It's an earth-changing article I have to get through before lunch is over", just will not come out right, no matter how carefully or succinctly you state it. So, after claiming a table I open the newspaper on the diagonal, shutting off one sode of a table completely. I tend to sit side-saddle at a table, indciating that I'm here only temporarily and I'll be off in a flash if unwanted social engagement is engaged in.
Not too friendly, right? Well, if you've been caught up in enough empty or dangerous conversations (they being any that stray into the minefield of office gossip), you know that silence and some down time from office life are necessary components of a safe scenario at work. The subscription to the NYT is a very cheap medication against the infection that I've seen enough folks suffer when they go out with colleagues from work. It's a guarantee that lunchtime will see someone getting loose or nervous and then finding themselves in trouble before they even leave the diner. I can't explain the viciousness of gossip; most of these folks are good people. Talk has a life of its own and it's your own life it may be claiming, if you're free with your thoughts and words. I'll stick to the paper, it's gossip I can deal with
Labels: Effluvia
Comments:
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I'm with you on this one. Well, not exactly with you, actually, I'm likely the one at the next table, eating alone with my book strategically placed at the same spot on the table indicating that I'm just fine by myself, thank you. Like you, I've more than enough human interaction during my work day and not only want, but need, my alone time at lunch. And I could not agree more about the soul-sucking nature of office gossip, or any gossip for that matter.
That lunch room you describe sounds like the very pit of Hell. My first thought is I'd like to see Terry Gilliam put that on the big screen. My second thought is he'd probably make it look too good.
I sometimes take a book with me when I eat alone, but it's a prop of self-defence. I'm usually happiest when I just sit and observe. Unfortunately, that tends to put a hint of a smile on my face, and that hint is usually all the encouragement someone else needs to begin a conversation. Sorry. I'm just here to eat and watch.
I sometimes take a book with me when I eat alone, but it's a prop of self-defence. I'm usually happiest when I just sit and observe. Unfortunately, that tends to put a hint of a smile on my face, and that hint is usually all the encouragement someone else needs to begin a conversation. Sorry. I'm just here to eat and watch.
great post. Unless I have a business lunch, I always eat lunch at my desk for two reasons. Yes, I like to check my blog and email and catch up on others' blogs if I can. More importantly, there's a very mouthy bunch of nay-sayers who eat lunch together. I'm sure if I sat down with them, they'd infect me, too, with the bitching and moaning. And practically speaking, if I sat with them, it would stifle them from talking about their favorite topic.
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# opined by 
: 9:24 AM, November 24, 2006
: 9:24 AM, November 24, 2006 << Home Verging on Pertinence Just some more disposable thoughts clogging up the hinterlands
