A Cautionary Tale

Something rotten is in the air today. And for once it isn't Maurice's breakfast. But it is making everybody grumpy and surly and generally unpleasant.

I can't totally blame anyone here for being in a pissy mood. I mean, we all do work here. And it sucks here a lot. And its another beautiful rainy, windy, dark West Coast morning. That impacts one's mood rather severely. Unless of course you are still a) tucked cozily in your bed or b) on the couch with a warm blanket, a book and a cup of tea. God that sounds good right now. I would take a) or b).

But no. I braved the winds and the cold and the rain to be here this morning. Can't say the same for the me yesterday that preferred to stay cozy at home. With a migraine. But still. Not here.

So I was braving the elements and arrived here. And immediately any fragment of a good mood that I was building while I lost myself in the pages of Little Women (how is that for a book that makes you want to appreciate everything that you have and try to be good?) was lost. Just like that I was swept up in the surly, crusty emotions that everyone else seems to be harbouring.

I think its partly all the Temp tension. They have no idea what is happening from week to week and some of them are getting downright rude. I'm really only thinking of one. The Wiccan. Normally a sweet girl but this week has lost all sense of manners and has finally unleashed her fury on anyone who has the misfortune to cross her path. It really was only a matter of time, but I am sad for her. Sad that she doesn't realize that we are technically all on the same team (Team F U Reps) and sad that she has become so embittered at the ripe old age of 20. Barely 20 no less.

I also think all this discontent is partly to do with the weather. No matter where you live, weather is a big topic of conversation. If you don't have anything to talk about with a person, how about that weather? I happen to live in a city that is the laughing stock of the country for our "mild" (not to us!) winters. Furthermore, while other city's weathercasters seem to be able to predict what the weather is going to do day to day, here they have no idea. I don't know if its because they are incompetent or because the weather changes so quickly they can't keep up but I hate when they tell you its going to be beautiful and it rains. Or that it will be raining, not to plan anything outdoors, and magically you get gorgeous sunshine. Admittedly we have been spoiled with an unusually long, warm and sunshiney fall. I think thats what makes it so difficult to face the endless months of rain that are now in store for us. Maybe we will get lucky and it will snow? HA! You have no idea what happens to a city that's not used to snow when it snows 1cm. Buses are late, cars crash, people fall--the whole city basically comes to a grinding halt. So please, don't wish snow on us.

Finally, I think that all of us are just plain sick and tired of working here. I think we might have all gotten to a point where we realized that we are 24 (most of us are) and working here. I earned my degree (I finally got it this year) and I make less than it cost me to get it. I really don't care if anything gets done today because guess what? It will all still be here tomorrow.

OK I'm going to come clean. I have job envy. Sort of. I watched that Obama campaign documentary last night and I gotta say, I wish I had a job that made me cry like the campaign workers. Obviously that was a once in a lifetime experience and there won't be an opportunity like that in my life time (and I'm Canadian. So politically...that probably won't ever happen. Like ever) BUT I would settle for a job where I am happy to come to work and happy to see my co-workers. Where we could work towards a common goal and be proud of our efforts at the end of the day. The movie should have filled me with hope (and it did for the state of the world etc) but mostly it filled me with despair that I work here.

So I decided to come to work today and take it out on people.

Before I leave you to dive into this impressive stockpile of candy on my desk (I mean work...), I will tell you one more thing that makes this place so unbearable. There is this guy, we shall just refer to him as SF. He's a larger fellow. A mouth breather. Has an unsettling habit of walking into a room, standing in the middle for about 2 minutes and then walking back out again. Or standing behind you and breathing. Maybe smelling hair I don't know (don't want to know). Anyway. There is a file cabinet behind me that everyone uses. And the other day, right before I went home I turned around to find SF bending down to the lowest drawer, full a** crack exposed. (I'm sorry I shared, Mom)

I wish I was exaggerating when I tell you that I almost puked. I did gag a few times. And even now the image is so clearly burned onto my brain that I wake up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat asking why this happened to me. So why did I share it? Because I feel like I shouldn't be the only one to suffer. And also to serve as a cautionary tale? Maybe more the first one.

And finally- did you all look at Google today? Cookie Monster! That kind of makes up for hairy a** crack (yeah not even close, I thought if I wrote it, it would make it true. It didn't).

I have a headache. Way too much excitement for one morning.