Jury of Your Fears

I don't normally blog about work.

And, I'm not going to start.

Except to say, that my new office setup is something of a fishbowl.

Imagine a large room. And in every corner of that room, there is a desk. And at every desk, there is a person, staring into the fishbowl. And a large, mostly underutilized space in the middle, perfect for dance parties or cartwheels or placing a table and placing papers upon said table (some of these things happen more often than others).

So that, when a person walks into the room, they have four people staring at them from every angle, passing judgement, 360-degree-mirror style. It's not terrible user friendly.

And, I think an office should be friendly.

For the people who work in this office space, it means at any hour of the day, three people are in your direct line of sight, and vice versa. It also means that most phone conversations are extremely transparent. I did not fully comprehend the repercussions of this set-up until a co-worker in the fishbowl remarked to me, "Mary, you are very expressive."

"What??"

"You make noises, and faces, and it is very easy to see what you are thinking."

And this is all true.

And I think probably, in order to be a better professional, and hide my Achilles' heel(s), which include making commentary at the computer and making faces during phone calls and reacting to various e-mails that cross my path, that probably I should have a cubicle, or like a pizza box or something.

So I am advocating for a cubicle. Or "like a pizza box." Or something.

Which is a strange position to take, but here I am.

And I love my job, I do. I get expressive because it means something to me -- about my own professional proficiencies, about the ability of my acronym to do good in this world, about our shared future and what will become of it.

And every time someone walks into the room I want to offer them a seat, a comfortable seat with an advantageous vantage point, so they can get comfortable and we can just talk. I want to like people and be liked. I want to have the space to do this well.

I am working to get to the point where I can make these things happen.