Cubicle
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Cubicle
I've never worked in an office environment before, and thus have little or no idea as to how boring an office job can be. To be confined to the walls of your cubicle, stuck between the back of your chair and the computer screen for nine hours a day can be a very tiring task indeed. To think that an office job like that is supposed to last you for the rest of your life, is definitely a daunting thought, especially with the ache in your buttock still lingering around and the coffee next to your mouse pad growing stale with every passing minute. Like I said, I can only imagine how hard it must be to be stuck in the same job for the rest of your life within a cubicle. And it is not like a promotion is going to save you from that claustrophobic sensation you get either. You merely jump from one cubicle to another in the case of a promotion, how brilliant.
So you make the best of things, you try to make your working environment as comfortable as possible. You bring photographs of your boyfriend to your workplace, and you bring those little dolls and plastic toys and line them up along the walls of the cubicle. Then from the mall next to your office, you buy one of those motivational posters and paste them on the right side, while on the left you have various notes and memos plastered all over to remind you of work yet to be done, and dates to be remembered. Perhaps a cup of coffee readily available, as you toil over the keyboards and the computer screen all day long, staring at numbers and figures, trying to make sense out of them all. You get that exercise once in a while by moving from cubicle to cubicle, or perhaps that occasional trip to the restroom. But for the rest of those time, you just have to make the best out of where you are, to be as comfortable as you possibly can. It'd be great if you have great colleagues in the same office as well, because they are always the best form of cushion you can get under your ass, don't you think?
When the production of Ocean's Eleven started in the early months of 2001, George Clooney told director Steven Soderbergh not to hire 'jerks'. The reason behind this was because the cast of the movie needed to have great chemistry between one another throughout the film, and it'd be strange and awkward to have that kind of chemistry if one rat dropping were to spoil the whole pot of rice. You cannot film a movie such as Ocean's Eleven with the cast and crew hating one another in the process of filming. Therefore, the casting department went out and hired actors who were universally considered to be non-jerks. The end result was a brilliant movie with so much chemistry between the characters on screen, that it was hard to believe that the actors were acting from a script at all. Their lines blended seamlessly into one another, like the kind of dialogue between people you'd hear at a local bar. It was that brilliant, all because of one single advice from George Clooney: No jerks.
That is the kind of working environment I am in right now, the kind of environment that is jerk-free. After the COM101 presentation ended today, there was a huge sigh of relief on my part. One hurdle down, and a couple more to go before the long awaited August break I have been longing for ever since school started. It's not that I am not enjoying school, but a break once in a while is not going to hurt. Anyway, I have come to appreciate people of different sizes and shape, even the ones I named in previous entries to be strange or stuck up. We were colleagues of one another, and it'd be a shame to feel uncomfortable or pissed off in the presence of one another.
Like the irritating colleague on the other side of the partition who listens to your phone conversations, or the way your cushion never seems to be able to fit the shape of your butt too well. These are the kind of things that get to your nerves, the kind of things that makes you dread the morning journey to work. However, I have little of that problem, and I am thankful to say that I have been blessed with the best friends and the best teammates I could ever hope to get. With the COM101 presentation down, I am left with the music project left to go, and the group of friends that I have made or acquainted with, surely are a group of people that are truly admirable.
I remember those days in Junior College, the times when I had to lug the giant yellow file around the school like a construction worker with a pile of bricks in his arms, who lost his way at the site. Project Work was the bane of everybody's existence back then, and nobody enjoyed doing the project at all. We had to stay back every Wednesday afternoon to work on the project in groups, and those times spent in the temporary container classrooms were probably the most boring and unproductive days of my life. It's not about the group members that I had, but rather the nature of the project itself. Everything was just standard, and everything was just the kind of thing you would expect to be associated with the word 'boredom'. It was just a part of the school syllables, and everybody hated it. There was no fun in the air at all, but merely the kind of atmosphere that lingered above our heads and choking the air that we breathed.
Having projects these days without one single direction of orientation, it may seem a little vague and daunting at the same time in the very beginning. However, as I have discovered, it allows our imaginations to fly to a million different places at any one time. And to work with people you are comfortable with is definitely a joy altogether. You begin to think of the project as less of a work but more of an activity you do after school, like watching a movie or a meal at a local restaurant. I have been teamed and blessed with the best possible combination of people for my music project. We have the workers on board, the kind of people who are not going to question twice about what they are supposed to do. We have the people with the ideas, and are never too shy to voice out their opinions. We have the jokers, who are never hesitant to humiliate themselves before the camera, as well as the most beautiful people - literally - in the course.
This entry is dedicated to these people, and the good times that I have enjoyed in the course of our work. The presentation is going t be next week, and I am certain that our project is going to blow the clothes off everybody's body. The things that we've come up with over our meetings are simply hilarious, not to mention the videos that we've put together as part of the presentation, is probably the best damn thing I have ever witnessed. I personally can't wait for the world to see what we have accomplished as a group. But more than that, I am just glad that I am associated with these admirable and fun people. Thanks guys, for making everything seem like a breeze - for making this life now the most comfortable cubicle.
Clockwise: Jonathan(In white), Naren, Ash, Naz, Elizabeth.
Ryan Hump-Crest Vs. Gay Budding Guitarist.
Blondie, Elizabeth and Chelsea.
Autobot Blondie, and Kerri being hysterical.
That's Jonathan the director, filming me.
Kerri, Jonathan, and the rest. Ignore me in the background.
Elusive Elizabeth.
Courtesy of Shem.
Our group's project teaser.
I've never worked in an office environment before, and thus have little or no idea as to how boring an office job can be. To be confined to the walls of your cubicle, stuck between the back of your chair and the computer screen for nine hours a day can be a very tiring task indeed. To think that an office job like that is supposed to last you for the rest of your life, is definitely a daunting thought, especially with the ache in your buttock still lingering around and the coffee next to your mouse pad growing stale with every passing minute. Like I said, I can only imagine how hard it must be to be stuck in the same job for the rest of your life within a cubicle. And it is not like a promotion is going to save you from that claustrophobic sensation you get either. You merely jump from one cubicle to another in the case of a promotion, how brilliant.
So you make the best of things, you try to make your working environment as comfortable as possible. You bring photographs of your boyfriend to your workplace, and you bring those little dolls and plastic toys and line them up along the walls of the cubicle. Then from the mall next to your office, you buy one of those motivational posters and paste them on the right side, while on the left you have various notes and memos plastered all over to remind you of work yet to be done, and dates to be remembered. Perhaps a cup of coffee readily available, as you toil over the keyboards and the computer screen all day long, staring at numbers and figures, trying to make sense out of them all. You get that exercise once in a while by moving from cubicle to cubicle, or perhaps that occasional trip to the restroom. But for the rest of those time, you just have to make the best out of where you are, to be as comfortable as you possibly can. It'd be great if you have great colleagues in the same office as well, because they are always the best form of cushion you can get under your ass, don't you think?
When the production of Ocean's Eleven started in the early months of 2001, George Clooney told director Steven Soderbergh not to hire 'jerks'. The reason behind this was because the cast of the movie needed to have great chemistry between one another throughout the film, and it'd be strange and awkward to have that kind of chemistry if one rat dropping were to spoil the whole pot of rice. You cannot film a movie such as Ocean's Eleven with the cast and crew hating one another in the process of filming. Therefore, the casting department went out and hired actors who were universally considered to be non-jerks. The end result was a brilliant movie with so much chemistry between the characters on screen, that it was hard to believe that the actors were acting from a script at all. Their lines blended seamlessly into one another, like the kind of dialogue between people you'd hear at a local bar. It was that brilliant, all because of one single advice from George Clooney: No jerks.
That is the kind of working environment I am in right now, the kind of environment that is jerk-free. After the COM101 presentation ended today, there was a huge sigh of relief on my part. One hurdle down, and a couple more to go before the long awaited August break I have been longing for ever since school started. It's not that I am not enjoying school, but a break once in a while is not going to hurt. Anyway, I have come to appreciate people of different sizes and shape, even the ones I named in previous entries to be strange or stuck up. We were colleagues of one another, and it'd be a shame to feel uncomfortable or pissed off in the presence of one another.
Like the irritating colleague on the other side of the partition who listens to your phone conversations, or the way your cushion never seems to be able to fit the shape of your butt too well. These are the kind of things that get to your nerves, the kind of things that makes you dread the morning journey to work. However, I have little of that problem, and I am thankful to say that I have been blessed with the best friends and the best teammates I could ever hope to get. With the COM101 presentation down, I am left with the music project left to go, and the group of friends that I have made or acquainted with, surely are a group of people that are truly admirable.
I remember those days in Junior College, the times when I had to lug the giant yellow file around the school like a construction worker with a pile of bricks in his arms, who lost his way at the site. Project Work was the bane of everybody's existence back then, and nobody enjoyed doing the project at all. We had to stay back every Wednesday afternoon to work on the project in groups, and those times spent in the temporary container classrooms were probably the most boring and unproductive days of my life. It's not about the group members that I had, but rather the nature of the project itself. Everything was just standard, and everything was just the kind of thing you would expect to be associated with the word 'boredom'. It was just a part of the school syllables, and everybody hated it. There was no fun in the air at all, but merely the kind of atmosphere that lingered above our heads and choking the air that we breathed.
Having projects these days without one single direction of orientation, it may seem a little vague and daunting at the same time in the very beginning. However, as I have discovered, it allows our imaginations to fly to a million different places at any one time. And to work with people you are comfortable with is definitely a joy altogether. You begin to think of the project as less of a work but more of an activity you do after school, like watching a movie or a meal at a local restaurant. I have been teamed and blessed with the best possible combination of people for my music project. We have the workers on board, the kind of people who are not going to question twice about what they are supposed to do. We have the people with the ideas, and are never too shy to voice out their opinions. We have the jokers, who are never hesitant to humiliate themselves before the camera, as well as the most beautiful people - literally - in the course.
This entry is dedicated to these people, and the good times that I have enjoyed in the course of our work. The presentation is going t be next week, and I am certain that our project is going to blow the clothes off everybody's body. The things that we've come up with over our meetings are simply hilarious, not to mention the videos that we've put together as part of the presentation, is probably the best damn thing I have ever witnessed. I personally can't wait for the world to see what we have accomplished as a group. But more than that, I am just glad that I am associated with these admirable and fun people. Thanks guys, for making everything seem like a breeze - for making this life now the most comfortable cubicle.
Clockwise: Jonathan(In white), Naren, Ash, Naz, Elizabeth.
Ryan Hump-Crest Vs. Gay Budding Guitarist.
Blondie, Elizabeth and Chelsea.
Autobot Blondie, and Kerri being hysterical.
That's Jonathan the director, filming me.
Kerri, Jonathan, and the rest. Ignore me in the background.
Elusive Elizabeth.Courtesy of Shem.
Our group's project teaser.
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on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 10:28 PM.
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