Our secretary has done it again.

Here’s her latest email:

To: LA-All
From: The Receptionist
Subject: Lost Celly

There’s a cell phone on the loose. If you see a lone one roaming the halls please guide it back to reception….

Or maybe I’m just so jaded from office cubicle living all day that I think she’s a professional comedian and her email wasn’t funny at all.

No, no she’s actually pretty funny now that I think about it. You know how people always send out company emails and start out with “Sorry for the spam…”, but then proceed to spam you anyway? Or maybe that’s just Internet company lingo. “Regular” companies probably don’t speak like that. Yet. They’ll come around sooner or later, I’m sure.

Anyway, yesterday our secretary sent out a mass email that ended with “And I’m NOT sorry for the spam.” Yeah, she’ll make you LOL all right.

Yesterday we had a meeting about our “hours of operation”, which was really just a polite way of talking about us coming in late and leaving early. I really don’t think we’re to blame though. We’ve been conditioned. Like many computer companies, (except for one that I won’t give away but I will say rhymes with “Shawhoo!”), we’ve had very relaxed work hours in the past. They can’t just change the policy overnight and expect people to adhere. There has to be an adaptation period. Fair is fair.

Apparently, despite our best efforts, our supervisor knows exactly what we’ve been up to regarding our departures. He’s well aware that we leave early and SWO (silently walk out) on the regular. He preferred to use the term “scooby-dooby-doo on outta here”, but whatever. To each his own.

He said that my ping-pong partner Nikki swaggers out like “I’m f*ckin Nikki Jackson!”, Natasha keeps scurrying back and forth because she forgets things, and I exaggeratedly tiptoe out. He’s right on the money too. He has a gift, that one.

So I guess our game is up. We’ll have to go back to the methods we used to use prior to discovering the art of the SWO. Back then, we would wait for our boss to leave and then just leave immediately afterward. Allowing time for a bathroom stop and some elevator waiting of course.

We had stopped doing it when our boss made a comment that he had gone to the bathroom one night for a second, and when he came back to tell us something our entire area was deserted. With the additional skills that we’ve learned “on the job” however, I’m confident that we won’t be make the same mistake this time around.

We now have his leaving routine down to a science. First the rumblings occur, alerting us to the fact that a departure is commencing. Then we wait 10 minutes after the door closes, do a cursory double-checking of the desk to make sure the computer’s off and the cell phone is nowhere to be found, and we’re off. I almost feel like we’re like dogs. My ears perk up at the sound of the first rumblings, and I begin gathering clues from my “leader” about what’s going to happen next. A walk? A treat? Somebody’s getting ready to leave? Maybe his Scooby analogy really wasn’t that far off after all, huh?

Before we get any further, let me clarify that that’s not really me. I’m much much prettier than her ;0)

I love what she’s doing though. Working, but at the beach and away from the office. Working, but not really. It’s like she’s, why it’s like she’s … drumroll please… it’s like she’s working from home.

“Working” from home is an activity of which I’m extremely fond. I’m a huge, huge fan. I do need to be careful and control my enthusiasm though, which I realize after today’s department meeting. During the meeting, our supervisor informed us that if we meet a certain quota for “whatever it is that we do”, (you know how computer jobs are always impossible to explain to the layperson; I’m not even going to bore you to tears trying), we’ll be guaranteed one day a month to work from home. I got all riled up and responded inappropriately, “So you’re telling me that if we meet this quota we’re guaranteed a day off next month?”

Jeez, Cherie. Think before you speak Rookie Office Worker. “Working from home one day a month” is not the same thing as “a day off”, even if you personally have your own opinion on the subject.

Luckily though, my supervisor didn’t realize my mistake. He just said, “Yep, that’s right” and went on conducting bi’ness. I didn’t realize my faux pas either until my friends pointed it out after the meeting.

Now that was a close one. I really need to check myself before I wreck myself. What if my supervisor hadn’t been as “enlightened” as I am? I need to learn that when I’m working in the office, I should have my professional face on. When I’m working in the home on that beautiful day next month however, it’s gonna be a different story altogether (wink wink).