Or perhaps not.
Anyway, let us begin.....
In three weeks, I am going to be unemployed. My contract is coming to an end, and, "times being what they are....indifferent" (to quote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead), I don't have another job. This parlous situation means that I may have to consider either becoming a bus driver (don't laugh- I am actually seriously thinking about it) or temping.
Oh dear.
However, if there is one thing I've learnt over these past two years, it's that you should NEVER underestimate the importance of your office companion. And my advice to young players is that some will DEFINITELY be better than others....
Read on....
When I started my job, I was very excited to get my OWN OFFICE for the first time ever! But, due to a) a considerable absence of space, and b) my level of unimportance, it was soon decided that it would be good for me to share.
OK. I don't necessarily have a problem with that....
Most of the four different people who've shared the office have been on short term projects, so they've never stayed very long. But I can honestly say that I have MUCH preferred some to others, and so I've got a little list (to steal from The Mikado- note MULTIPLE literary references to give the pretence that I'm cultured!) of what makes a good office sharing companion (and yes, it's highly subjective).
- They talk to you about themselves. Maybe it's just me, but I WANT to know what someone does after work, what their partner is like, what they enjoy eating. There is nothing more dismal than trying to make a bit of small talk when you arrive in the morning, and the person exhibits as much life as a hibernating hedgehog (in fact, in one instance, I think the hedgehog would have been more lively....)
- That being said, there is a fine line between talking a bit and talking too much. No, I don't want to hear a blow-by-blow, scene-by-scene, line-by-line account of the new action film you saw on the weekend which holds precisely zero interest for me.
- They don't have loud, inane phone conversations to their partner/dog/baby all day. And yes, I have heard the back end of all three of these categories. The middle was the most sensible.
- They don't eat their stinky lunch at their desk. Friendly advice- not everyone loves sardines or their fetid odour. Fancy that!
- They have similar views about whether the light should be on/the fan on/the window open/the blinds shut. Divergent opinions can be a source of WAR.
- There is at least part of the day where you have the office to yourself. Even if it's for 10 minutes. (Random question- am I the only person who actually takes lunch outside the office nowadays?!)
I wonder what my office companions have thought of me sometimes. And I'm sure their evaluations would not be pretty, either....
