I had a meeting yesterday across campus and one of my possible routes back to my office took me past Jim’s office downtown. I wanted to say hello, but it seemed silly to go through security and really interrupt his day just for that. So, as I got close to where I thought the window was for his office, I called his cell phone.
He answered and I told him I was outside, but didn’t know which window was his. He said he actually had the curtains closed since it gets cold in his office, but he took a moment and opened them up.
We stood there – he in his office looking out and down and me on the sidewalk looking up and in. We shared a wave and talked for a moment before I needed to head back to my office. It was a friendly conversation but weird to see him across the way and only hear his voice at my ear. 200 years ago we both would have been accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake.
Yea, technology!
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Back at the office and at my desk working on a website when I hear a bell ring. We used to use this small attention-getting bell as the “victory bell” – only to be rung when we had a major success. Since we moved to the new office, I set the bell at the front desk since we don’t have anyone there. Visitors can ring the bell and I’ll go investigate – though it’s actually pretty rare.
I went to see who was there and it was a guy and his teen-aged daughter. I asked if I could help and he said who he was looking for. I said I didn’t recognize the name, but that I would look it up in the directory. I went back to my office, looked up the name, then called them in to verify. They were in the wrong building, but close to where they needed to be. I brought up the map, but it wasn’t very clear how to get there without showing both locations. So, I walked them out the correct door, gave them some landmarks and directions, and some guidance on where they needed to go once they got to the correct building.
The guy said okay and started off – his teenage daughter behind him having not said a word or looked up from her phone.
I stood there for a moment, flummoxed by the social convention disruption, and then went back to work. At no point did either of them say thank-you.
At the risk of quoting Jar Jar Binks: “how wude.”
If the situation was reversed and I was so lost I ended up in the wrong building, I would be so grateful that someone took time out of their day to point me in the right direction, I’d buy them a fruit basket.
If they were to come back and are lost again, I’d still help them out because that’s who I am. But I’d be a little cranky about it because that’s also who I am.
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Finally, today is the 7th workday where I’ve had some kind of headache. None of them have been bad enough to send me home, but just enough to be annoying. I don’t know what’s causing them, but I maybe need to adjust my workstation or take more screen breaks.
Or stop being stressed out. Though, given that I get headaches when I get a massage or try to nap, I’m not sure that relaxing is the answer either.