You are a hypocrite!

I work in an office environment where silence, if not paramount, is very important for the quality of work. Academic editing requires a lot of concentration and can be taxing. So, editors need a release too. In such an environment, the time and method of release chosen by a particular person might conflict with the work of others working nearby. It can be annoying if a person a group constantly creates a lot of noise, especially laughter and/or giggling.

My office unfortunately has such a group of people who, despite repeated warnings, carry on laughing loud and giggling. During these episodes, they fail to control the decibel levels of their conversations too. To avoid getting distracted, you could possibly listen to music. But when you are trying to read sentences aloud in your mind to try and understand and edit them, music is also a hindrance sometimes. There is no other way but hope that these people would stop and realize others are getting affected by it.

I tried to talk to a member of this group and let that person know what exactly the issue is. One day, in the evening, the person appeared to be apologetic and promised to be careful in the future. The very next day, after repetition of the same unruly behavior, and after it was pointed out, the same person was aggressive and rude. The ego was offended and exploded like a volcano. The person started pointing out other groups of people having small conversations in the office and went on to insist that I was being biased against him/her.

I tried to tell the person that I have features of adult ADD and I am particularly sensitive to noise and get distracted very easily. Even that backfired. I was told that I am trying to hide behind the façade of ‘mental conditions’ and I wanted everyone to work in a way that I wanted them to. Eventually, I ended up being called a ‘hypocrite’ for being only sensitive to the noise created by a particular group. I decided that it was best to end the conversation at that.

What would you have done in the same situation?

Working on Independence Day

National holiday. Working day for me because my company needed to. Of course, I get paid for working extra. But that’s not the real perk.

The most beautiful thing about working on a national holiday is the peace. Everything, from bus stops, to buses, to roads, to offices, to pantries -everything is quieter. There are less people around. The city, the office - everything feels so much more peaceful.

You know, when people from smaller cities and towns (especially from abroad) tell me that they might not like to live in Mumbai, I never really thought about what they said. In their lives, every day is like a national holiday. Everything is peaceful, calm, and less crowded.

Coming to think of it, I might like living in such a town. Not now, sometime in the future.

Policies that don't make sense

I love my job. I love my office. But I disagree with most of the HR policies. About leaves, about the dress code, about not getting compensated for working extra etc.

Today, for example, I needed to work 3 hours extra just because a translator did a shoddy job. Most of the translated text (from Japanese to English) didn't make much sense and I had to make sure that the final output, which involves my efforts, has some semblance of quality. So I had to spend my Saturday night at the office working.

I don't mind working extra. But I do think that such extra work should credited and acknowledge by paying for the extra hours that I had to spend at the office. Currently, my superiors tell me that it eventually gets evened out - one day you have to work extra, and another day you work less. But I'm sure the "working less" part happens very rarely.

The leave situation is altogether another issue. On one hand, the company policy wants to ensure that the workers are adequately rested, the company says no to increasing the leave quota for seniors. This year, 4 of the 10 recognized national holidays fall on Sunday. That's almost half of the extra leaves other than what we are allowed to take per year. When asked about it, the answer is the same - it evens out. No it wouldn't. It will never even out. We won't get more than 10 holidays any year.

And about the dress code policy - well, they have a strange sexist policy. They allow kurtas/kurtis and sandals for women. These are not allowed for men. They allow round-necked t-shirts for women and not for men. Isn't that strange?

I wish there were more people to protest against such indifferent policies.

New office woes

After nearly 2 years of promises, my company has moved into a new office complex. It’s a swanky new office spread across the 10th floor of an office complex which has come up recently.

But my working space is cramped and there is lack of storage space. New rules have come up which prohibit eating and taking naps at your desk. These were integral parts of my office life before.

There is just a small pantry which is always crowded – making coffee, tea, and sandwiches just got a lot more painful. The pantry does not have a sink. On top of it all, the air-conditioning is uneven, and because of the carpentry work which is going on, the place is all dusty.

The most important of it all, however, is our inability to follow the same office culture as in the previous multi-gala office. Each gala had its own culture and we liked that a lot. That is no more.

I think I am being too negative about the new office at the present. I hope I will be able to find good things about the new office soon. Whether I like of dislike the office space, I still love my work and my colleagues!

Dial MUSIC for rescue

In the second week after starting work, I explained to a senior colleague of mine about my mental framework. The alien work environment, work-related issues, and the new people that I was working with were acutely affected me. I detailed the various traits that were manifesting in the ageing me-the bipolar mood disorder which veered usually to the depressive side and some attention deficit symptoms. I was letting external factors like the chatter between colleagues affect me. Not anymore.

Back then, the mp3 player was not such an important, essential part of my work-routine. Now, it has become a savior. Every working day, I spend about 8-9 hours listening to songs while happily typing away at my keyboard. It gives me isolation and entertainment. It gives me a space which feels more like home. It gives me a wonderful chance to listen to all the music that I have always wanted to listen to. The playlist needs an overhaul twice or thrice every week. 

Thus, in the last two months, I have rummaged through the discographies of artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, The White Stripes, Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers, Kanye West, Eminem, Depeche Mode, Limp Bizkit, System of A Down, Elton John, Fiona Apple etc. Every now and then, there is the occasional song is inspiring enough to necessitate a mini-break from work for research on the artist, album or the song. Thus I have come to know about the profanity of Serg Tankian's lyrics, about the wonderful production in Madonna's songs and about talent of the the most remarkable musician on the planet, Michael Jackson. I have also come to conclusion that the British pale in comparison to the American stars in the world of Pop. Rock is an altogether different playing field, I know.

To whomsoever it may concern: try adopting my strategy for maximal work efficiency.

First day at work

So I started working today. A totally new environment so alien that it felt really weird. Out of scrubs and lab coats, not standing at an operating table, not talking to the needy and not saving lives. Instead, in my jeans and tee shirt, sitting at a desk, talking to no-one and learning grammar. In came the world filled with deadlines and assignments and out went the world with intravenous lines and surgeries. That’s one helluva change.

I met new people. New colleagues, new trainers, new bosses. Apart from the trainer, I couldn’t really talk to anyone there. It really seemed like an invasion of privacy. They were doing jobs and had to meet deadlines. I can’t talk to them and disturb their work. That’s not civil. Not only that, I was given a computer and some lessons and exercises about English grammar and punctuation. I had to work on that as well.

I tried to concentrate on what I was doing. I found it extremely hard because I could hear everyone talking, gossiping, laughing. I could also hear filtered music leaking out of the earphones of a colleague sitting next to me (so clearly that I could identify the artist!). I have never been diagnosed as ADHD. But I think I’m a subclinical ADHD person. The only resort was to get lost in my own music despite it being an impediment to the functioning of my brain which is trying to solve complicated grammatical problems.

I’m sure things will get better and more ‘relaxed’, but not in a jiffy.