h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Instead of writing about holidays, trips and special occasions, I thought I'd write about what I do the rest of the time. Life in the office.

We are 8 women in one large L-shaped room with room dividers. The company is burgeoning and because of the design of the building it is getting harder and harder to fit everyone in. When I started in 2001 we were 10 people in all in the office, 2 in our department. I think the whole company had about 35 on the payroll and now were are just about 100. So you can imagine that it's cramped, although modern. The offices are on top of the factory, in a sort of cloister form, around an atrium, with the offices inside the square opening on to the atrium, the offices outside the square look out on to the neighbouring buildings and fields.

I sit quite a long way back, in an area with no windows at all but with a huge skylight.

Of the 8 of us there are always at least 2 on the phone at any given time, mainly speaking German, but French comes a close second, with Dutch, English and Italian equally likely. Despite being all women, the atmosphere is amicable. After a particularly frustrating phone call, we are all happy to listen to the afflicted colleague's story, although we caught most of it anyway from her end of the conversation.

We are responsible for so much, and no one realises it. We once made a list of everything we do and it filled 2 A4 pages. The boss thinks we just sit here putting the orders into the system all day.

There is the usual chat disparaging the other departments' incompetence, and girly conversations about shoes, clothes and handbags. This week, four people have had birthdays, so there has been a selection of cakes, pasta salad and more goodies to come in the kitchen. Tomorrow we shall all order something from the Italian restaurant (the only one left in this one- town that delivers).




Perhaps it wasn't such an interesting journal after all. It just struck me this morning when the sun shone through the skylight for a minute onto the greenery in front of me (we have large pot plants as well as the room dividers) and one girl was placating a customer whose delivery was late, and two others were talking about a trip to the cinema, that these are moments that get lost in the grand scheme of things, but which make up 95% of our time on this planet.

These details are fascinating. Singing the unsung hero(in)es

<<these are moments that get lost in the grand scheme of things, but which make up 95% of our time on this planet.

Indeed. But you need a kind of literary eye to appreciate it in a positive light, put it into words and bring it here to share it with us.
You´ve got that eye, TC.

<<Despite being all women, the atmosphere is amicable.

I can´t say that working with women is different to working with men. I´ve had both experiences and they were positive.

Yours seems a compact group, you support each other... That sounds great. I would say that it is because you know how to behave in group.


for your luminous office

Thanks for sharing this, TC, it is really interesting to hear how other people spend their day.

I started in an office in 2000, there were 5 of us, now there are 60. It's a very strange feeling.

This bit made me snigger though - are you sure we don't work in the same office?

>>We are responsible for so much, and no one realises it. We once made a list of everything we do and it filled 2 A4 pages. The boss thinks we just sit here putting the orders into the system all day.<<

Yup - I thought of you when I wrote that, Sho.

Thanks very much Maria for your kind compliments.

I started a new job this week, in a Norman Foster-designed glass edifice in London. It makes a change from all the dingy basements and internal rooms I've had in my previous jobs.

I may write a journal about it when I've had a look around the place (I'm sure there must be toilets somewhere - I keep having to pop out to Costa Coffee )

Good luck with it, Icy. I'm surprised there is no one to show you things like the loo, the kitchen, the canteen, if there is one. You might even be able to get vouchers for Costa, if you're so near.

It's OK, I found it now (just in time!)

Don't think much of this Apple Mac laptop they gave me, though. Where's the right-click button?

Ah the joys of Mac. You'll get used to the right-hand-side click.

In my first job I taught guitar in the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin; about 25 hours a week, which is plenty for music teaching. A few years later I found out that there was a canteen where I could go for a &

Didn't you wonder where everyone disappeared to at coffee time?

No, music teachers can be horribly isolated. You occupy your room, pupils come up to you, you only see other people as you arrive and as you leave.