Tuesday, May 06, 2008

To Make a Mountain of Your Life is Just a Choice

This is what I see when I look up from my desk. My cubicle neighbor's plant is fast encroaching. I fully expect to be strangled by it at my desk one of these days when I'm not paying attention.

And what of today, you ask? Today there was some bad juju floating around here. I woke up and had all kinds of little inconveniences. The girls were at their dad's house and they both forgot stuff that I had to look for with their direction over the phone. The things weren't where they thought they were. Then I had to stop and get some kind of breakfast item at the store on the way for the goodbye party for one of our temps. The walk to work pretty much sucked too. The strap to my very old and very most favorite bag kept breaking and then I'd stop and fix it and then it would break again and I'd have to put down the grocery bag of coffee cake stuff and fix it and start again...You get the picture.

This is part of the building where I work my magic inputting things into a computer.

So, I figured I was having a bad day, and thought I might be able to wallow a little in my pissyness. But then everyone else who worked in my building was having it way worse. One woman started crying (I'm still not sure why) and had to go home. Another woman had strep and had to stay home, and someone else just finished her temp hours and had to leave for good with no other real prospects. Ouch.

And then...And then I ran into my friend T. on my way home from work and she had a couple of really shitty things happen to her too.

Here's my building from another angle, just in case that other photo wasn't working for you.

After work, I stopped at the Co-op and saw a bunch of wonderful people I hadn't hung out with in forever. One was going to a cook out and we talked about the fact that her birthday was coming up. Another woman told me she was pregnant and due in August and then I saw a couple I know. The girl had this totally adorable skirt on and when I told her how cute I thought it was, she said it was bad for blowing up in the wind. Her boyfriend walked behind her and seemed pretty happy with the clothing mishap.

I went to Coadster's soccer game and one of her teammates thought I was Coadster's sister - which gave me the double bonus of having a high school kid think I was young enough to be my daughter's sister and then seeing the look of horror and disbelief on Coadster's face in reaction to her friend's statement.

Coadster's team didn't win their game, but they did tie and they were happy about that. Looking back at all the bad and the good of today, I feel like I kind of tied too, and after seeing what happened to everyone else, I was also pretty happy with it.

19 comments:

rel said...

Churlita,
Shit! I'm still asleep!....

Churlita,
Yeah, It don't take too much lookin' to find someone worse off than ourselves. Then again, sometimes we need a pissy day to put things in perspective.
rel

Anonymous said...

At least it finished up on a high note with the sister remark...that should have put a smile on your face.

At least the weirdness was not too bad for you, just annoying. You did not have to leave work crying or anything.

-RM said...

Take scissors to work and cut the plant! Make sure it doesn't move in on you....take care of it, before it takes care of you!

dmarks said...

Clothing mishap? Another term for wardrobe malfunction.

Watch for stranging vines in cubicles.

Oh. I just noticed that the stupid captcha word is "rlywet". Is it just me, or does that look like one of those inneundo-type license plates that people try to get on the back of their car?

Mr Atrocity said...

Have you considered getting a plant of your own to fight back? You could film it in time-lapse; a super slow motion cubicle war. It could be a great late night TV show idea for when people are stumbling home from the pub. You could make millions!

Tara said...

Your office threw a goodbye party for a temp? That's awesome! Some offices make sure the door actually does hit temps on the way out.

I love that door to your building.

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

Think of this way.. there is always someone somewhere having a pissier day than you.. lol.. glad you tied it all up at the end of the day..

Unknown said...

I remember when our football coaches would say a tie was like kissing your sister(still platonic above the Mason-Dixon in our day). In your case I guess it would be like kissing your sister-daughter.

Poptart said...

I feel so bad for the crying coworker! Wonder what happened? Crying at work sux.

laura b. said...

I love Nada Surf! That is actually one of my very fav. songs.

This is a great post. I am always getting bitchslapped by perspective too.

Nate said...

Great, strangling plants. Now I'm singing "Little Shop of Horror" soundtrack tunes all day.

/sings ...and suddenly Seymour...is standing beside me...

booda baby said...

I like so much how you resolved that!! Nicenicenicenice.

DJSassafrass said...

I feel like maybe the bad juju has been getting a bit out of hand the last couple weeks. I'm confident that we can curb it all soon. And by curb it, I mean kick it's ass.

Churlita said...

REl,

It could always be worse, I've experienced that in my own life too many times.

Evil-E,

It's true. I left work all happy because it was over.

RM,

Scissors. Of course. It's for my own good.

DMarks,

RLYWET. totally. And maybe the person that had the plate would also have those hanging cajones things on the back of their truck too.

Mr Atrocity,

Brilliant. I'm getting a Venus flytrap and soon.

Tara,

We use any excuse to bring in treats.

Mrs.,

I'm assuming that most people are having a pissier day than I am. I'm usually pretty happy.

Dexter,

That's kind of gross, but funny so it's totally fine, right?

Poptart,

My guess is office politics. We're full of that around here.

LauraB.,

I love the phrase "getting bitch slapped by perspective".

Gyuss,

i was actually considering using lyrics from Little Shop of Horrors but I thought it would be too mean. Sorry that you did it to yourself.

Booda Baby,

Thanks.

DJ,

I'm all for kicking its ass.

Tera said...

Picture number 1 made me have a "Little Shop of Horrors" flashback!

Yesterday, my day was okay...I found out my son's barber has had a secret crush on me!

AlienCG said...

A day that starts bad and ends good is always better than a day that starts good and ends bad.

Minyo said...

I think that being mistaken for your daughter's sister definately swings the balance in your favor of having an o.k. day vs. a crappy day.

The plant...you could adopt that part of the plant and use it to decorate your office. You get all the benefits of having a plant in your office without having to water it. Your cube neighbor will never know that half the plant will eventually be on your side.

Churlita said...

Tera,

Is the barber hot? Then that could make for a great day.

Aliencg,

I think so too.

Minyo,

I'm not sure if I want that plant. Look at it. Doesn't it seem a little devious to you?

Anonymous said...

I believe I'd spray some Roundup on that little green leaf...


Bro-In-Law