For example, today.
It quickly became apparent that my cubicle-mate was eating lunch because 1) the overpowering smell of something spicy and very oriental swelled over the dividers, and then 2) the loud and incredibly aggravating probably-culturally-acceptable-in-some-other-part-of-the-world sound of him eating his soup kept time with the clock.
I took a break to use the bathroom, passed the bike in the walkway that hasn't moved in months but instead is defiantly challenging the passive-agressive "Bikes are not allowed in cubicle areas" sign just feet away, turned left at what used to be the US army's "I want you..." poster with "...to stay quiet" below but now reads "Help Create a Culture of Acoustic Courtesy" (I only wish that phrase were enclosed in quotation marks or asterisks), and finally got to the bathroom. I took care of my business next to a lot of ruckus in a stall, then washed my hand as the now-finished ruckus-maker slurped water from the sink (how he found this more sanitary than partaking from the drinking fountains just outside is beyond me).
And then I got back to my computer where I should be working in Lisp on Recursion and Induction homework but instead am trying to figure out at what sampling rate I need to save an mp3 file so an incorrectly-sampled video can have the audio synced with the speaker's lips (if I reduce the rate to 45960Hz, by the way, it looks nearly perfect).
Swell. All we need is some of the cribbage players to start up their rousing game in the corner with the cot and one of my other cubicle-mates to start talking on the phone in a language that sounds like it's using the N-word all too frequently.
If that doesn't make you envious, I don't know what will.
1. thanks for informing us you only wash one hand. gross.
ReplyDelete2. he/she is speaking Chinese. you're hearing "na ge" which means "that (one)." this is one of the reasons Chinese is so awesome.
1. Ummm... You didn't hear I lost my other hand in a tragic accident last month while saving a small child from an oncoming car during rush hour? It was all over the news. But thanks for reminding me I'm now a cripple.
Delete2. Perfect. Someone else told me it was a filler word, which is why I was hearing it so frequently. And here I just thought they were gangsta'!