Yesterday, I had my 30-day new-employee check-in with human resources. It was brief; mostly, the very nice HR lady was checking to make sure I had gotten my medical insurance cards. No, I told her. After saying, "Hmmm, I can't believe that!" a few times (to which I replied, "No, really. I didn't get them. Yes, I'm sure."), she said she'd look in to it. An hour later I got an email from her assistant telling me that she had put them in my box. I replied, "Ah, my box. Great. What's my box, and where do I find it?" Apparently there's an inter-office mail system that nobody told me about. I've got a box.
I had been afraid of getting a job that offers eight hours a day of senses-dulling mindlessness. I don't think this job will offer that, and that's good. Perks include a very pleasant officemate, and a casual dress code. Jeans and a sweater, today. Some days I barely change out of bike clothes. I do add deodorant. It's necessary.
Sometimes it's hard for me to figure out how to interact with people. Nodding and smiling in passing in hallways is a pretty good way but them somebody breaks the I'm-too-busy-for-interaction wall and tries to engage me in pleasantries! What do I do? "Uh, good. How are you?" Good. Passed that one okay. This is not my ideal environment and I think that my ability to demonstrate basic social may suffer.
A lot of environments cause this. Not just for me, but for everyone. Elevators: nobody talks in them. Why not? What's wrong with greeting the eight people with whom you sardine yourself for a vertical journey to your workspace? Why pretend you don't notice them? Why are some people so startled by a simple "Hello"?
Yeah, yeah, I know, I just wrote about how I'm startled by a simple "hello." I'm still figuring out how to behave. Once I figure it out, I'll start disrupting it. Promise.
I had been afraid of getting a job that offers eight hours a day of senses-dulling mindlessness. I don't think this job will offer that, and that's good. Perks include a very pleasant officemate, and a casual dress code. Jeans and a sweater, today. Some days I barely change out of bike clothes. I do add deodorant. It's necessary.
Sometimes it's hard for me to figure out how to interact with people. Nodding and smiling in passing in hallways is a pretty good way but them somebody breaks the I'm-too-busy-for-interaction wall and tries to engage me in pleasantries! What do I do? "Uh, good. How are you?" Good. Passed that one okay. This is not my ideal environment and I think that my ability to demonstrate basic social may suffer.
A lot of environments cause this. Not just for me, but for everyone. Elevators: nobody talks in them. Why not? What's wrong with greeting the eight people with whom you sardine yourself for a vertical journey to your workspace? Why pretend you don't notice them? Why are some people so startled by a simple "Hello"?
Yeah, yeah, I know, I just wrote about how I'm startled by a simple "hello." I'm still figuring out how to behave. Once I figure it out, I'll start disrupting it. Promise.
Labels: work
posted by mattio at
2:44 PM
3 Comments:
welcome to the blogosphere, dahhling.
Now if you could just get this "Reality-sphere" figured out..
I keep telling focus (I rarely refer to her as focus, btw) that I'm just downright socially awkward and have no real clue about interacting with "people" and I don't get how "people" can just mesh the way they do.
Sometimes, I think she doesn't believe me.
en france, everyone you pass in an isolated enough space that eye-contact is possible says "bonjour" or "bonsoir." it's unnerving. and then comfortably pleasant. "hello, you're a person! not just a lump of moving carbon, no. so i say hello!"
also, while i, unlike most of my rigid-grammarian fellow-travellers, do not object to ending sentences with prepositions, i do feel it is my duty to remind you that "into" is one word.
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