Nothing about yesterday seemed out of the norm. The alarm went off far to early (7 a.m. is far to early in my mind). I dragged myself out of bed second-guessing how long it really would take me to get ready (my personal best, 17 minutes. 5 minutes to get in the shower, throw on clothes and run out the door and 12 minutes to get to work). I stopped for coffee (because in my not quite awake state, the coffee maker is far to complicated an electronic device) and then spent 4 minutes trying to convince the lobby elevator that it really was occupied and needed to transport me to the sixth floor (convice=jumping up and down, pushing the “close” button incessantly, walking in and out of the elevator, pulling the fire alarm button, staring angrily…this is a daily battle, stupid elevator). I walked out of the demon elevator, sat down at my desk and turned on my computer which, as always, alerted me that I have far to many problems to solve before I have even come close to finishing the elixir of life which warmed my hand (aka caffeine).
The next few hours were just as mundane, filled with never ending meetings, conference calls and email correspondence. Surprisingly, I can be a quite successful run of the mill marketer (you may now gasp). That is, until 3:36 p.m.
At 3:36 p.m. yesterday afternoon, my true self, the one I am fully capable hiding in my professional career, became apparent. It was something so simple, so unexciting which challenged my professional persona. This afternoon, this mundane and typical day, I managed to do something which I never though I would have the capability to do. I got stuck behind the copier, while making copies.
All started out like usual. I was standing in front of the copy machine getting ready to copy my last 3 hours worth of editing. I placed the pile of original documents on top of the copier for safekeeping as I was waiting for the first copy to scan. And then, it happened, the unabating beeping of an electronic device not happy about its current direction. In an effort to stop the never-ending beep beep beep beep I opened the copy machine lid, which just happened to house my prior three hours worth of labor, causing it to slide more quickly than one would think, taking permanent residence in the quarter of an inch between the machine and the wall.
In an effort to liberate 180 minutes worth of billable hours, I wedged myself in the corner that housed the copy machine to extricate the errant paperwork.
Ten minutes later, I was still behind the copier and my new coworkers have concerns about my professionalism.
