so is this business?
5:45am – alarm goes off. ass is dragged out of bed, into the shower, and through a routine of preening. a quick bite of cereal and a gulp of tea.
6:30am – wonderful husband drives me to the train station. now that’s devotion!
6:45am – meet co-workers at the station. we wander down to get in line for the train, so we can get seats. I look around at the other people waiting for the train – mostly business types. everyone has a newspaper under their arm, I’m surprised more people don’t have a coffee in their hand too. I’m still effectively asleep.
7:15am – still standing in front of the train, waiting. departure time was 7:05. apparently there is some trouble getting the doors open. (?)
7:20am – train rolls out of the station. we’re on our way to dublin! a brief moment of excitement and a feeling of self-importance. co-workers and I make smalltalk.
7:40am – my other female co-worker and I are reading, the two men have fallen asleep. they look like big, peaceful children wearing funny clothes.
9:50am – we arrive in dublin and dash for the taxi queue. when the taxi arrives, he nearly drives away with my female co-worker half in/half out of the car.
10:40am – we arrive at head office and make our way upstairs to the canteen for tea and pastries. glossy looking people in suits are already seated and chatting away, a few are milling about. I try to make conversation with the lady beside me, who works at the main switchboard in head office. “so, how long have you been working the switch?” “about 30-odd years.” She looks uncomfortable. I feel uncomfortable. mental note – don’t ask people older than you how long they have been at their jobs. I have my third cup of tea.
11:00am – we go into the conference room for the meeting. blahblahblah customer complaints blahblah very important to get an accurate picture blahblah thanks to everyone who worked on this project blah blah. I agree, it’s important. maybe it’s just that I’ve already been using this for a while, but it seems like something rather smallish that is being introduced as something big. I guess they want us to treat it as something very important… polished people ask difficult questions of the presenter and I can feel my bladder swelling and swelling from the 3 cups of tea and 1 cup of coffee I’ve had since I left home.
11:30am – 5 min break. I nearly run flat out to the nearest bathroom, and all the way back, in the nick of time.
11:35am – more meeting. lingo and talks from upper-level managers. rationalisation. unitisation. meaningful work. reorganisation. hurt feelings from the two staff sitting in front of me, as they are hearing the first word of the shifting (again) of their jobs. I look around at the polished people and see the effort put into the maintanence of the sheen. manufactured confidence and practiced poise. or maybe it’s all natural, but really it is a room full of normal people acting like businessmen.
12:45pm – lunch! seating plans place me directly across from the head of HR. she has wild hair and a fuschia coloured jacket. wooden prayer beads on her wrist. I think of questions I could ask her about pursuing a career in HR, but I still have the renmants of my previous attempt at asking a question at the back of my head. and she looks a bit tired, so I don’t push my luck. I decline the wine. I am sort of quiet, but tell interesting stories about canada when I am asked. there’s something easy about being from somewhere else, as it’s always a safe topic of conversation.
2:15pm- taxi back to the train station. there is a young, trendy black guy driving. he comments on the state of the traffic (horrendous, no surprise) with a thick dublin accent.
2:45pm – wait in line for the 3:20pm train to cork. the queue builds and builds. announcements declare ianrod eireann’s regret for this delay in boarding, etc, etc. eventually the queue snakes all the way around the station and starts to look like people are cutting in front, but it’s actually just the end of the queue.
3:25pm – board the train. very hot, very sweaty, very tired.
3:30pm – train sounds like it is having electrical problems, lights going on and off. “there is a fault on the line, there is a crew working on it at the moment.” hahaha. callcentre in-jokes.
5:00pm – getting to know a lot more about my co-workers than I’d bargained for. I discover that one man drove the other to shannon airport on this day 21 years ago. jokes about the taxi driver, hurling (a sport), and “doing a line” (dating vs drugs). An elderly man beside our group leaves at limerick, and my co-worker beside me says “He’s an asassin”
6:10pm – pull into cork station. home! waves of thanfulness roll over me. I am covered in sweat and dust, and exhausted from having to listen to so much talk of hurling and GAA football. I think briefly that my future in business depends on learning the names of famous hurlers and watching important matches in pubs.
