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The Working Girl Blog #25:
Pretending to work, or Don't bother me - I'm too busy to talk to To see all of Bobbie's "Working Girl" blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/19261/working-girl-blogs |
I got in early yesterday morning - I was in the office by eight (It's sorta become like a routine lately, this coming to work early, 'Coz I was a little anxious about our project - in a couple of days, it'll be ready for application testing, and then UAT.), so I decided to surf a while and log on to BCTS and my other favorite sites as well as check my email while I waited for the troops to come in. And lo and behold, one of my BCTS friends, whose name I will not mention, was online and logged on in Yahoo. (See, Aunt Andrea? I didn't mention your name... ooops! heehee)
We had a nice morning chatting on Yahoo, talking about this and that, griping and moaning about such and such, about writing on the internet, about internet friends (and other people), about things happening in our individual worlds, about life. It felt a bit like the usual late night chat sessions in the Stardust/BCTS chatroom, except this is like a chatroom for two.
Initially, I thought to log out by nine, as that's when most of the guys in the office check in. But we really got to talking, and we ended up saying goodbye at about eleven. While we were chatting, people would come by and see I'm on the computer, and seeing how wrinkled my brow was and how intense my concentration was on the keyboard, they would just wave hi. Some, especially those with stuff to drop off or forms to sign would come in. I would mime how busy I was so they would just hand the stuff to sign and move on.
I did, however, notice something - most of the guys would just wave, but girls would prefer to come into my office and get a few words in, even if it's just a "good morning" or "how are you?" It's even worse with those I am close to, as they would actually move around and look over my shoulder at what I'm working on. I would then be forced to hit the ALT and Tab keys to switch windows. And seeing it's a boring Excel spreadsheet, they'd just move on, some of them giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder or sometimes buss my cheek.
I don't know if girls have a narrower or shorter concept of personal space or what, or maybe it's all in my head.
It was fun to fake working. Probably more politically correct than painting or filing nails, too.
Anyway, I was in a somewhat foul mood yesterday and was not keen on chatting with the office guys, so I used the trick again later in the day, even adding a few other touches (like opening some folders and pretending to read) or, in the case of some more persistent people, I pretended to be on the phone as well. I got some alone time and, wonder of wonders, I even got to do some work. Hmmm. This faking being busy works. might be a good trick to practice more often.
Coolness.
'K. Am off to the office now for another day of pretending...
To see ALL of Bobbie's blogposts, click this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c
To see Bobbie's stories in BCTS, click this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot
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Comments
The Working Girl Blog #25:Pretending to work
Bobbie, I think that you'll find that a lot of your coworkers do the same thing in pretending to work.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
And you know this how?
..pick up a Psychology text and look up Projection.
Bobbie...honey...
What you are doing is only pay back for being saddled to a desk so don't sweat it. As for 'being too busy to be bothered...' my co-workers know that if I have my ball-peen hammer out...stay away!!! I have no problem going for the toes.
Mea the Magnificent
Careful!
First, marvelous graphic! Where do you get those things?
Second, yes, it's fun to push the boundaries, especially if you know you are doing good work most of the time.
Third, don't goof off too often; sooner or later someone who is not fond of you may catch on.
Hugs, Daphne
Daphne
Personal Space
I guess that for men, their personal space is probably about the length of an outstretched arm with a fist on the end of it. Unless the men are buddies, in which case the perceived threat is less and they will be closer.
Women don't obviously compete or threaten each other in the same way, so they don't have such need to keep an empty space around them. Except in the case where an unfamiliar man is nearby, of course. I bet that even in an office, a man would stand closer to a female colleague than he would to a male colleague.
Ain't humans fun!
Penny
Personal Space ---
Personal space is a cultures and subculture defined thing. Men in other cultures, middle east, the Indian subcontinent and France come to mind, definitely define personal space differently from those of us in the US, but among ethnic groups we find similar differences. And yes, it is different between women and men, women you are close to and women you are not, and women and men who have a closer relationship, familial or otherwise. If you stand back and look at a gathering, you can usually pick out people who have the closer realtionships, versus new acquaintances. Note also how you feel. You can be kinda prickly and sorta outa sorts, and you will find people coming close to you to be a bit annoying, feel kinda bristly. Sometimes others take subconscious note, or even conscious and want to know if everything is OK.
Yeah, people are funny, and there is a lot of non-verbal communication.
CaroL
CaroL
Project lulls happen
... and the opposite is true. It kinda balances out eventually though I could have taken a pass on the 14 hour days I put in non-stop for 3 weeks plus one time :(.
So yeah, I surf but since I search tech sites, I am still learning. I do not go to BCTS though as who knows if internet usage is monitored and BCTS is also usually blocked at most libraries nowadays. Stardust is not however.
Kim
Sounds nice...
well, except for that 8am bit... (I'm a night owl, or I used to be... I find I'm getting up earlier and going to bed earlier that last year - mimicking my wife's schedule... LOL)
You're lucky your firm doesn't "log" IMs. Several clients I've been at do. And, you can get to BCTS @ Work? WOW. I've only had one client where I could do that. (And only on their public WiFi network.) That's quite a privilege.
As long as you have other windows open, a chat window's very innocuous and, if allowed, nothing to be surprised at... (Unless they try and read what you've been chatting, I guess...) How many recall the old "Boss" keys in games from the MS-DOS days? LOL
Chatting with a friend from BCTS during work hours? You should be chastised for that. Only, I'm not the one to be in a position to do that. LOL... Why, you may ask (okay, you probably don't care, but I'm going to pretend you asked.). I've done that more than once. As I've not transitioned (at work), it's potentially embarassing when I'm addressed as "Annette" in an IM window when at work. :-)
Thanks for sharing these blogs,
Ann
Love your blogs and stories...
but just be careful okay? Were I work they've put in web filters and I know there's keystroke software being used there too. Work places are getting worse and worse.
Bailey Summers