The office is apparently the most streamed series in America in 2020. I have watched enough episodes to bring the concept home. Much of 2020 was adjusting to working from home and working in shifts but currently some work spaces have resumed working from the office. As in every other situation, there were pros and cons. The biggest pro for most was eliminating the commute. Have you walked in this hot sun? It’s worse when you are dressed in a full suit your bag heavy with packed lunch as you try to maneuver the busy streets getting knocked on your shoulder every so often.
Cutting costs on lunch money was also a major pro of working from home. Actually eating at your convenience was more of it not to mention dressing as you pleased. This luxury was more expensive than anyone could have anticipated. Work became round the clock as opposed to the neat 8 – 5. It is no brainer getting that work call at 10pm heck some bosses even send that email at midnight. Here is the reality check that you are no Cinderella, more of Snow White’s seven dwarfs.
After the niceties, oh you have changed! What happened to your hair and all other changes that could not be detected over zoom calls the office gets back to work. HR of course reminds you to sanitize, no sharing of pens and paper, social distancing and minimizing the number of people in a meeting or taking up bigger room. The office experience does not start when you get on the lift to your floor, it starts when Nani picks you up.
There is a lot to say on lunch hours at the office. Some organize lunch that is paid for, others just contract a standard supplier but each employee pays as they eat but the one that sets people apart is those that leave you to fend for yourself. You could carry packed lunch like your pre school days or find a decent place to eat; emphasis on decent. I am wondering whether to get to the different employees you meet at this stage… I shall restrain myself for a few paragraphs.
Lunch time at the office gives me anxiety. I remember the packed lunch I forgot at home on the table and how I have to think of plan B. It’s not only the change of food that I mind, the fact that I had the meal planned and I knew the taste to expect come lunch. We have great food vendors but their prices are over the roof for an intern. I was shook once when I got basic chapo beans at 250!!! This is the holy grail to rate establishment just like tea. Once the price of a cup is over 200 do not bother looking at anything else on the menu if you are on a budget.
My chain of thought was finally flowing on some work I had taken over 2 days with and I did not want to interrupt that with a meal so I looked at my delivery options. I remembered a place we had visited whose fries were 100ksh and they had informed us they do office delivery at no extra cost. Meanwhile the 250 chapo beans still need 20ksh delivery. Being on a budget I made the call.. I kept waiting for my delivery till I assumed they got lost in their way because they had admitted they were not familiar with my location much as they have been serving people around my area since time immemorial.
Finally at 3.30 I get a call that the lady is at the reception. As I walked on the hallway, something told me to use the 4th Floor stairs and peep before presenting myself as the intended recipient of the food but my affirmations side kicked and assured me confidence. I walk out and see the lady carrying a ‘paperbag’. The receptionists with a sneer in her voice remarks ” kumbe ni wewe, nilikua namuambia hakuna mtu hula chakula kama hiyo hapa kwetu ” So rude don’t you think but weeeuh, I was the one in for a shock.
The lady informs me that she needs the bag back.. I look at the contents, it is nothing I imagined!! Butwaa beat me 😆. There I was expecting my food in this transparent tins and next to it two packs of the 5ksh tomato sauce but instead, my eyes were met with a greasy brown bag, heaven knows how clean that bag is as it has been ferrying every other order around and the transparent nylon papers filled with the Jerry can sauce and tied like a ball. Hehe.. I felt like paying for the meal but refusing to walk around with it.
She’s over reacting you think.. huh well, I have not painted the picture of what office lunch my colleagues partake. It’s either pasta and fillet, stir fried rice and Mongolian beef, the aroma just tells you the cook was not trying to make a meal but is one who aims to please. Did I mention they are in glass tins so that they are conducive for micro waving you know, cancer and all, then picture me arriving with my greasy brown bag and toothpicks as forks. If someone brought me my bag I would have left for home and called it a day. In another world, there were employees receiving their greasy brown bags with joy.
“Angalau muache abebe na mfuko mpaka kitchen aweke fries kwa plate“; the receptionist said. The lady agrees and fast I walked. Thank God I could at least make it presentable while there if no one walks in on me. It was the distasteful appearance of my meal that made me instantly full. After 5 mouthfuls I just threw it in the bin. They sure lost me as a customer with no fault on their part; just a girl faking class before she makes it.
I write this recollection as I lounge on my coach supposedly working from home. I am giving myself the much deserved rest because when work comes, it will demand every ounce of my energy and I have had to learn that it is equally as important to schedule rest and not just take it when you have the time. I will also schedule time for love because the effort I put in my work is not transferred to my compatible other. We don’t want jack to be a dull boy do we? 😉
Dimples Migraines and Aahs 