Small Methods of Rebellion....

It's the middle of the week and the weekend is inching closer. So far, the week is going quickly. I'm very much looking forward to my weekend because it's the beginning of an entire week off work. I decided to use my PTO so that I could actually have a Christmas vacation. Thus, on Friday, it's my last day at work for over a week. Then, the week after Christmas, I only have to work three days before New Year's. All I have to say is if all weeks were short, I think the workplace would be much happier.

The workplace is still the workplace. I'm trying hard not to spend my entire blog venting about it but somedays it's hard. I'm trying to cultivate my 'don't care' mentality rather than dwelling on every tiny injustice. I will confess, sometimes it involves being overly passive agressive. For example, being that I'm the ONLY person in my department without a new, shiny Mac computer, I find it a little grating that in every meeting, a conversation ensues in which the rest of the attendants wax poetical about how much they love their Macs. I get a bit fed up of this, obviously. It's actually incredibly rude and insensitive but I work for a software company: Manners aren't exactly something that are top priority. I try to ignore it but sometimes, I find myself envisioning taking a Mac and throwing it at the window when I, once again, have to hear about the Command Key vs. the CTRL key or whatever they babble about. I've stopped listening. Instead, I've taken to drawing little bananas on my notepad every time they digress into a Mac conversation. I've got four bananas so far. I've had three meetings.

I've also drawn a little banana on a Post-it note and pasted it over my HP logo on my PC. Hey, I'm a Monkeypants. Bananas are my fruit. As I said, it's passive-aggressive but it makes me feel better and that's all I need.

In addition, I've taken to dressing up. I used to do it all the time for work. I have a wardrobe full of nice clothes that I forget to wear because my company is very much a jeans and t-shirt/sweatshirt type place. I like dressing up. In addition, my boss is very much a, uh, GUY. He seems to get a little uncomfortable when I act feminine around him. For example, many of my other coworkers chat to him about sports or manly things. Silly me, I ask him about his daughters and their gymnastic meets. He always acts like I'm being horribly sarcastic when I ask him these type of questions even though I genuinally want to know the answers. He usually blows me off with a snarky response. I don't get offended because I realize he's not used to this type of question. It's too personal, too...uh...girly.

So, I've been dressing up a little because I know it will make him realize that I am not a typical tomboyish programmer because, really, I'm not. Also, because I know it might make him wonder why.

Sure enough, today he came up to me and asked why I've been dressing up. Twice, actually. Ironically, today, I was just wearing a nice blouse, dressy trousers and jewelry. I wasn't even wearing a skirt as I did yesterday. I simply told him that I felt like it. He seemed a little taken aback. I think he was curious about whether I had a job interview. He was definitely fishing.

Yes, it's passive aggressive but, sadly, it's all I have. I can't verbally express my opinion because a) I've tried that and, three times now, I've been blown off and b) Complaining=getting fired. Thus, I have to do what I can. I'm just doing what I want to do and getting a lot done. I figure I'll keep doing that until I'm told otherwise.

I have been looking for other jobs but no interviews so far. Ironically, when I went to Monster.com two days ago and searched within my zip code, my company was the first job listed. Apparently, we're hiring sales people. Reading the advertisement, I sort of wish we were hiring for someone who could punctuate and use correct grammar which sounds very arrogant but, really, the job advertisement made me cringe just a little.

I did not apply. Obviously.

Neverthless, I am working hard to be zen about everything at work. I'm finding ways to be amused. For example, we have this nifty, shiny, new popcorn maker. You've probably seen them in the store flyers: They seem to be a popular item around the holidays. They look like mini popcorn carts and the ads claim they make old-fashioned tasting popcorn and cost around $99. Personally, when I hear the phrase "old-fashioned tasting", I thing..."stale'" although I'm sure it's not what they mean.

Nevertheless, we have one in our break room. It's pretty. We also have a massive jug of oil for it and a huge bottle of popcorn kernels.

I went in the breakroom a couple of days ago. Someone had made popcorn.

In the microwave.

Admittedly, we've all looked at the popcorn maker to see how hard it is to use. It's not even the fact that it's a little complicated. It's the fact that if we use it, we have to clean it.

No one wants to clean it. So no one is making popcorn.

Did I mention that it's very pretty? It's red and glossy. It sits about 20 feet from the microwave.

You can make popcorn in the microwave.

For some reason, this whole thing just delights me. I can't tell you why, really. It just amuses me.

I think that as long as I'm amused, I'm not depressed, enraged or begrudging. Instead, I can hide in my wide-open cubicle and let the workday enfold around me while I continue to do the work I want to do. I drink tea. I don't eat popcorn. I dress up. I draw bananas. As I always say, it's the small things...

Happy Thursday!