One friend told me that his mental image of life at the office was something out of Lawrence of Arabia. Probably the scene where Peter O'Toole is being reprimanded by the military commander in an enormous, high-ceilinged room with graceful arching columns, carved wooden screens and ornate antique furniture:
So in case anyone else is harbouring similar illusions, this post is intended to disabuse you of them.
My day is spent 8:30am - 6pm (or more) in a recently constructed (but already failing) government office building. The team takes up half of one floor of the building and most of the staff are grouped together in rooms that were originally designed as meeting rooms, but have now turned into 1950's- style "steno pool" rows of desks - 8 or 9 people to a room, all in a row. No such thing as a cubicle. People are remarkably good humoured and chipper about this - and maybe even more productive because of it.
As someone considered more senior, I share a room with 2 others, soon to be 3 and invariably there is a visiting municipal person or a staff person who needs some assistance who shares a desk over the course of the day. It is like a giant hotelling space - laptops only and, of course, no computer network. We have a never-ending series of computer viruses in permanent circulation from infected memory sticks, which causes no end of grief. These pictures might give a bit of a sense of the space and how it is used.
What is impossible to convey in pictures is the level of noise. The din in the corridor is truly awesome - yelling, chatting, an inexplicable amount of furniture moving and one keen gentlemen who takes it upon himself to sing the call to prayer in the corridor at the appointed times every day.
If it is a good day we have both heat and water. That is maybe 3 days a week. The building's furnace runs on diesel, and when it runs out, it takes a while before the fuel truck comes to fill it up. It also costs a lot to do so. So whether it is a logistical challenge or a cost-saving measure of a post-collapse, cash-strapped government, I am not sure. All I know is that it gets cold sitting all day in a building at 8 degrees celcius.
One thing that is common across every single government office that I have been in and public or private institutions of any kind - schools, hotels, banks, health clinics - is a picture of the King and of his father, late King Hussein, in every room. You see them here, watching over my desk.
First of all, download AVAST to protect your hard drive. it's better than the blimped out security softwares that have failed me way too often. Plus avast makes a big sireny fussy thing when it detects infected files and sites. That's fun.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to put up some nice magazine photos of the Jordanian Queens, they always look awesome.
Or perhaps a "hang in there" kitteh?
A phony parchment that reads "Today is the first day in the rest of your life" in caligraphic script?
A wooden plaque with the text of Desiderata?
I'm only trying to help.
(if it was me, I'd just have the Larry of Arabia youtube clip on auto run)
Eight is not enough degrees for an office!
ReplyDeleteI hereby vow not to complain about how cold air (probably 16C or something) blows on me at my desk until I have to get up and put on my coat.
Until Friday or so, anyway. Then I will forget and start complaining again.
re. Lorna's suggestions, maybe I should put Hannah on my mother's email list. She'll fill up your inbox with office humour so fast you'll be praying for a virus to wipe out your OS.
AVAST is a good idea. So are the picture suggestions, which actually bring to mind my most favourite inspirational wall hanging 'footprints in the sand'.... the one about God walking alongside. I might have to track that one down. Might be for sale at the gift shops close to the baptism site! Love the comments, by the way. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFascinating post. Nobody describes interiors enough for my liking --especially of offices so I found this very satisfying to read and imagine where you spend your time. I really hope you will report back about the cause of the "inexplicable amount of furniture moving"
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