Left field
We have a variety of kitchens at work. The weird thing is, I rarely if ever use the kitchen that’s located smack-dab in my very department.
At my old job, I would never hang a right out of my office, because my boss and her secretary were situated about 100 feet to the right, and beyond were two people I really just wanted to avoid at all costs.
I had a corner office, so I’d shoot out of my door to go around the floor the other way, else I’d beeline straight for the stairwell across from me, go upstairs and then drop down on the other side (usually to go visit my friend Shan or to go to the bathroom or whatever errand I needed to run).
In effect, I really went out of my way to not be seen and/or otherwise engaged in a conversation. Because one person would always be trying to sell some products for her kids, two would try to get me to gossip and I didn’t trust either one (besides, they made up gossip all the time — I technically never said a word to them but somehow was one of their favorite conversation topics) and, overall, I just viewed it as avoiding landmines.
It wasn’t anything overly personal against any of them — I was just pretty good at keeping myself out of trouble..
So here I am now, working with people I genuinely like and possibly even adore, and they are all situated to my right. As is the kitchen.
The weird thing? The highlights of my day are when I get to talking with any of them — this is a funny group, and no exchange goes by without a zinger that lights up my day.
Yet I still go left.
Old habits die hard, I guess.
God, I’m strange. 😉
October 21st, 2005 at 9:15 AM
Look at it this way–it’s that many *more* people you can visit with on the way to the kitchen. 🙂