Last week was a whirlwind of activity. First, we got a new boarder at the house, had to finish up taxes, trying to put our a dozen fires at work, continue to test the new system, and, on top of that, we had to move our office one floor down while the renovate our old area. In these uncertain times, it is nice to know that the company is willing to invest in our area to improve the overall condition for its employees. I try to remind everyone that this is a temporary gig while the area gets demo’d out and renovated, but there are a lot of cranky people down here. We essentially moved a lot of managers/directors down into cubicles. After living in an office for several years, moving back to the cube farm is “interesting”. Some people are treating this like a college move and I have “heard” stories of certain paper objects being tossed over the cube walls. I think they’ll draw the line at beach balls, however.
Moving is a PITA. Had to box up everything I own and move it downstairs myself. Of course, half of what I have I want to keep but I will not use a lot of things while I am in the new digs, so that means living out of a box for a while. We have gone through the files and tossed a ton of old stuff/papers and the shred bins have been overflowing for several days. One interesting aspect is how people set up camp in their new locations. Now, everyone understands this to be a temporary relocation, but a lot of folk have set up their cubes like they are going to be here for years. Pictures, awards, posters, plants that typically adorn the cube walls have found new homes. I was torn with what to put up in my new cube. I have several awards/plaques/attaboys that adorn the top of the cube cabinets only because I have no other place for them. My walls have a few of the certificates I have earned while here plus one or two “meaningful cartoons” and some family pictures. As I was sitting here enjoying the view, I noted I have multiple pictures of the spouse and son. Not as many as some people have (I’ve seen whole walls adorned with photos) but they occupy a predominant spot on the desk. I have always felt that a person’s cube/office/workstation can be a small reflection of people’s life and, if you look deeply enough, you can tell a lot about a person. There are those who appear cluttered and those who have the entire family proudly displayed (including pets). If you are going to spend at least 1/3rd of your day in one location, you ought to be able to give it some personality.
1 comment:
I spend the majority of my waking hours in a cube farm. It has it's pros and cons. People definitely personalize their areas. I have tons of photos in magnetic frames hanging on my cabinets. One woman, when she gets irritated, cleans off every surface making it look as if no one occupies that space. I like the open atmosphere. We are constantly bombarded with new information and regulations. We do a lot of discussing (and joking) over those cube walls. of course, the time you hang up the phone after getting irritaed w/ your hubby and end the call with "Ugh. Why is he such a jerk?" You tend to hear a little giggling from next door.
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