don't knock it till you try it: a job

In an earlier post I wrote about being unemployed. Those were the days--I got to sleep in, wander aimlessly around the house for hours and take mid-morning exercise classes at the gym with all the stay-at-home moms. 

However, all good things must come to an end, and even though we're in the middle of an "economic crisis" with record levels of unemployment, I somehow managed to acquire a job. No rest for the wicked, huh?  

So I'm back at what I do best, apparently--doing "writing-related" stuff at a suburban corporation. I'm not complaining--I'm getting some money to pay off my unemployment/wedding/honeymoon debt, I get to work with a friend from a former job, and my boss is really low-key and not "managerial" at all. 

I've only been at my office for a few weeks, and so far it's just fine. Generally I plunge into a pit of depressive anxiety whenever I start a new job. "Here we go again," I think, resigning myself to the existential nightmare of being an associate project manager for an educational assessment company in Maple Grove. 

However, this time around it's not so bad. For one thing, I actually felt like the people really wanted to hire me, for once. Usually when I get a new job I get this sense that they think they're doing me a big favor by offering me three days of vacation after a six-month waiting period. But in this case, it seemed like they were actually interested in getting me to work there! 

But despite all the positive things about my new gig, it is impossible not to take note of some of the "quirks" of having a corporate job. For example, I was blown away when I opened the freezer door in the break room. The selection of Lean Cuisines was incredible! "How do people find their lunches?"I wondered. Then I noticed that most people had written their names on the boxes. 

And speaking of food, there is always the intense pressure to eat many sugary treats while on the job. I think I consumed a cookie, a piece of cake, and one or two "bars" during just my first week, all in enforced socializing situations. I would mill around for a few minutes at the birthday party or "recognition" event or "status" meeting and would attempt to avoid the snack foods. However, someone was always on hand who would begin pushing the treats, saying, "Come on, just have one, it's okay, one won't kill you," and you know how it is, you just have to do it or risk being labeled as a dieter or anorexic. 

Another troubling part of having a "normal" job is the fact that you have to hang around the office all day. Seriously, how does anyone do this? At my last job, we were allowed to work from home if we wanted to, and even if I went into the office, it was a rare day that I was in for a full eight hours. I'd usually cut out early and finish up my work at the dining room table while listening to records. 

But that's not an option now. Everyone gets into work obscenely early (8 am) and works until 5. Based on the Lean Cuisines and all the people I've observed eating at their desks, it seems that no one even takes a proper lunch break, either. I guess I'm just lazy, but there is something so grueling and awful about sitting around an office for nine nonstop hours. To keep things interesting, I drink boatloads of water so I'll have an excuse to get up and wander to the bathroom about thirty times a day. Hey, follow your bliss, right?