It's Going to be a Great Day...

 ...not!

It was barely 9 in the morning and I proceeded to dump a pumpkin spice latte down my front.  Do you want to guess what color shirt I was wearing?  It wasn't white, but off white and now it's really off white with a large splotch running down my left side.  (Right over the boob and showing off my nice flab of a stomach.)  This wouldn't be a big deal if I was working from home, but...

It's Wednesday.  Wednesday are office days.  So I will be sitting here for the next 6 or so hours in a wet, stained shirt...with the cold air blasting from the vents.  (Because it is you know NOVEMBER and we need lots of cold air.)

I knew this was not going to be a great day.  I knew it last week when on Thursday I was on a conference call where management and finance were freaking out over numbers for the 4th quarter.  They've been seeing a trend over the past three quarters where dollars that were supposed to be recognized were instead pushed out to the next quarter.  The dominoes start to fall and panic ensues.  (Never mind the fact that I've been saying that since the pandemic began the sense of urgency that clients used to have no longer exists.) After last week's call, we were all supposed to regroup (on the phone) this morning at 8:30.

Needless to say, I told my boss I didn't want to come into the office.  I wanted to prep for the call (turns out I didn't really need to since I wasn't "encouraged" to speak) and make sure that I was on time.  Plus, I have a meeting this evening and while I will get home in time, it's going to cause me stress.  I didn't think it was a big deal.  I was wrong.

So, I order to assure that I was physically in the office on time this morning, I needed to take the 7:02 bus from the center of town.  This meant leaving the house around 6:30. (I could have left 10 minutes later, but I'm obsessive about missing the bus so...)  Leaving the house at that hour isn't a major issue for me...after all I am up most mornings before 5 and on Fridays I'm out the door (with my husband) by 5:40 to get to Shoprite when it opens at 6.  What WAS (IS) an issue is that it's really dark at that hour.  Plus the last few days have been rainy AND there are leaves everywhere.  Wet leaves on the street and sidewalk coupled with dark could lead to disaster for an "old lady" like me.  It's why I give up walking in the mornings around mid-October.  I don't want to be the one the ambulance has to be called out for at 5:30 am!  I was glad it was warm so that the leaves weren't frosty (which would have made the walk downtown even more hazardous).

I arrived at the bus stop in plenty of time. (Because I AM me.)  Didn't mind waiting since it was relatively warm (for November).  Hopped on the bus and was on my way when I got a text from my co-worker saying that my boss was NOT going to be in and was I intending on going in?  Hmmm...it was a little late for that.

I was (am) actually glad she wasn't coming in as I knew she was sick.  In the past (pre-pandemic), that wouldn't have bothered me.  Now it's a whole different ballgame.  I sit right next to her and we were going to be in a conference room on this call together.  I have become more lax when it comes to mask wearing, but knowing that she was sick, I brought two masks with me (and was wearing one on the bus).  I didn't want to expose myself to whatever she had.  (Which is not Covid, but...)

I got to the office before 8 (even with stopping at Dunkin for the pumpkin spice latte that I would later dump on myself).  I had plenty of time to set up and prepare.  Then I sat, alone, in a conference room, and listened while my boss presented all the data we had gathered.  I said not one word, even though I did have a little insight that I could have shared because I felt (from the tone of the call) that my input was not needed.  (I'm the tiny cog; spinning and spinning.)  At the end of the call, management thanked my boss for her analysis and that was pretty much that.

I came out of the conference room, re-heated my latte and proceeded to make a mess of myself.

So now here I sit, damp and stained...the upside?  Someone finally figured out how to switch the cold air off.  Maybe by the time I go to get the bus home, I'll be dry?

It’s just another Wednesday office adventure.