Office quirks

Just when I thought it wasn't possible to love my job anymore, things got all switched up and I'm loving it more than I could have imagined. Rather than spend 9-5 in the office, I get to help out with the new class of Dreamers in Boulder from 3-5 with the after school program. Now I get the chance to connect with the kids on a pretty intense level. I'm always amazed by things they say and do. Plus, I get to play Groundies every day. Booyah.

After about a month of working here at "I Have a Dream", I'm finally starting to understand all the quirks of the office as well as personalities of my co-workers.

Being a non-profit, a lot of our computer equipment and other office supplies often stop working abruptly. I've learned to just let that happen and deal with it patiently.

Our Central Office is pretty small with only 5 full time employees and 4 Americorps members, each with their own office. While I prefer to get up and go talk to people in their offices when I have a question, I've learned that others prefer to call the person on the phone (regardless of their proximity to the other person's office) and others prefer to just yell at the person so the whole office can hear. That one always makes me laugh.

I'm pretty sure someone stole my stapler my second day in the office. I still haven't said anything, in case I'm hallucinating and I never had a stapler to begin with. Plus I don't want to become the office Milton.

I'm super psyched for office pranks and am already coming up with some good ideas.

My new pet peeve is when people walk by my office and talk at me through my window. There is a door on the right hand side and then a floor to ceiling window on the lefthand side, so basically there isn't much of a wall there because it's all see-through. Rather than stand at my door and talk to me, some co-workers prefer to stand at the window and talk to me, even though there is glass in between us. Not only can I not hear them very clearly, there is a glare from the windows behind me that shine on the window by the door which means I usually can't see them very well either. It doesn't annoy me enough that I need to say anything, so I'll just live with it for now.

I have a very clear view from my desk of the office candy dish. This can be challenging sometimes because the candy is constantly calling my name, begging me to take a piece. It's also very funny because I get to watch all the other people in the office who walk by a take a piece. Some people go there specifically for the candy, others pretend like they're on some other important mission, and happen to walk by the dish. I know what they're really after though.

Poo

I realize I have a bit too much time on my hands lately because the most interesting topic on my mind is poo. I realize some people may stop reading there which is totally fine. I happen to be an eight year old trapped in a twenty-two year old body because I still think poo is funny. For those of you still reading, I'll try to not gross you out too much.
So I've been watching a show on BBC America called You Are What You Eat. It is a really great show that teaches people how to take care of themselves and eat better. The first thing the nutritionist (who is a rather intimidating woman) does is lay out a display of all the foods the people eat during the week. It is really scary and puts things into perspective. She then goes on to give them an exam and take a look at the side effects of their nasty eating habits. She examines their tongues, takes a blood sample and examines their poo (the nutritionist calls it "poo" which is why I'm using the term in this post). Normally she leaves it at that, but one episode she actually sat the couple down and made them look at their own poo in the Tupperware containers. It was hilariously disgusting. I admire how bold the Brits are and I don't think you'll see this exercise on The Biggest Loser!
Next topic.
So today I was washing dishes and looked out to see a couple walking by with their dog. To my great disgust, the dog pooped right in our yard and the couple just walked away. To make matters worse, I know the woman from high school and graduated in the same year as her. It really isn't hard to clean up after your dog and I do so twice a day (Chloe has a very healthy digestive system)! The first thing that popped into my mind was all the things I could do to teach them a lesson. As one of the instigators of the peanut butter prank war of 07, I know a thing or two about pranks. Unfortunately the second thing that popped in my head was the old wwjd question. I couldn't really envision Jesus putting the poo in a bag and dropping it in their mailbox. So I guess I did the right thing and cleaned up the poo, dropping it in our own dumpster. Sometimes I wish God would hand out free passes to be bad, even just for a day.