Tuesday, March 13, 2012

And things throw light on things

LIke me, you've probably worked in lots of places and with lots of people. One of my favourite things about offices is the countless little quirks and nuances of all the people who work there. The guy next door to me sneezes a lot. Whenever he does I send him a quick email that says BLESS YOU and he sings out THANK YOU through the wall. The woman down the end of the office make a magnificent salad every day: beetroot-tuna-carrot-onion on a big bed of iceberg lettuce. I know it's lunch time when I can hear the lettuce being rinsed. My learned friend likes to read his documents with his feet on the desk. He's a devotee of the Alexander technique so he's integrated a number of their practices into his daily routine. Sometimes I walk past his office and seeing him lying on the floor in a pose he calls a semi-supine although it looks to me like a cruxifiction. I always stand and watch his chest to make sure he's still breathing.

I'm not without my quirks. Relevant to this post is my predilection for wearing dresses mid-week. It seems quick and to the point.

The dress is from Jigsaw and was a gift from my sister. That little blue jacket which presents as a blur in the first picture was from Von Troska a couple of seasons ago, I wear it to work a lot. The two pendants are both thrifted and the shoes are the Ferragamos, which are proving to be the hardest workers I know. Also present is my faithful Bayswater, and on my left shoulder is a big stripey bag I bought in Target. It holds my breakfast (fruit salad) lunch (cheese and vegetables) and assorted snacks (yoghurt, pear and banana). 


My friend Nat likes to leave her furniture in my office when she goes on leave. That's her table and out of shot are her chair, magazine rack and assorted magazines. They keep me company while she's gone and lend a degree of elegance to my office that is otherwise outside my skill set.


I'd love to hear stories of the quirks of people you work with. Do you sit near a frequent-sneezer?

3 comments:

  1. I do sit near a frequent sneezer, as I also did in my last job (didn't realise there were so many of them out there). I had to stop saying bless you as, between the two of us, it would have raised the clatter level in the office to unreasonable heights. But I like your email idea. No followers of the Alexander technique, unfortunately, although I know someone would like to bring her exercise ball in to the office to sit on occasionally. She feels too shy to do it but I've been encouraging her to go ahead and bring it in. Many of us are very new to the company, having arrived in the last 6-8 months, so more interesting traits are yet to emerge, I hope.

    Jigsaw makes the most beautiful things but I find they also have a lot of stuff that's a bit odd, and these tend to be the only items left by the time the stock ends up on the sale racks or outlet stores (my domain). I try on the things that I like when the stock arrives in store, fall in love, then watch them all sell out before the sales arrive. I've given up going into the store as they're too expensive to buy at full price. Nice of your sister to buy that lovely dress for you.

    I have a large canvas bag to haul my lunch and cardigans and scarves in to work. It's dreadful, and one of the straps broke yesterday. What I really want is one of the Longchamp carry-alls, in extra large, black, with brown straps. I have visited one in the store but I am totally unprepared to pay the hundreds of dollars they want for it. But they somehow look so good even though they're so simple. I have heard that in France they are an order of magnitude cheaper which makes me even less prepared to pay silly money for it. Tried online but they don't ship to Australia. They seem to have battened down that supply chain quite nicely. So maybe it's time for a trip to Target for something better than I had but cheaper than my Longchamp.

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  2. Jen, before you give up, try ebay.com, the US eBay site. You'll find lots of the bags you are looking for there and at very reasonable prices - between $50 -$70. You could also try ebay.fr if you're game - some of the sellers do ship internationally (la monde) and you'll probably find one even cheaper there because as you say, they are much more reasonably priced in France.

    And I never shop at Jigaw - it is very expensive. I do go to their sales sometimes but find even their reduced prices to be challenging. I love their clothes though - which is why it is handy having three sisters with good taste!

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  3. Wow, three sisters. And all with good taste. Welll done. Thanks for the eBay suggestions - I'll try my luck with both US and France and see how I get on.

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