First Day of Living in Cubix

Today started out like many days, with a shoddily cut, blackened bagel (I am yet to achieve an even cut, even with a bagel cutter). Even waking up at 6:30am wasn't beyond me, probably because even when I don't have something to do during the day, I wake up at 7:30, without the slightest possibility of falling back asleep.

But today was different. Whereas I would typically not change out of my sleep wear and use a discretionary sniff to decide whether today was bath day, on this day at 6:30am, I was showered, shaved, and dressed in slacks and a button down.

As I drove to Long Beach, a drive that I have taken often, I sat amongst the other breadwinners (or not) on an adventure that would not only take an hour, but also signify my first drive to work as an employee of the Long Beach firm. I looked around me. Would these people become familiar faces on the daily commute? Would they become freeway friends? Would we all inch towards our destinations in solidarity? Or wait for the chance to take any lane change that could "advance" our position one or two cars. How patient these southern California drivers were. Why weren't they cutting me off or trying to act like jacked up race car drivers changing lanes inches away from my bumpers? Maybe they had accepted their condition. Maybe they hoped that they were going the other direction on the freeway.

My first day of work entailed already learned lessons of company history and seemingly obvious instructions on how to fill out required paperwork. Were it not for an older Asian woman also going through "orientation", I'm sure that my supervisors would have ushered me along the process, taking for granted that I was intuitive enough to not be babied through the process.

Then came the reading. Policies, procedures, missions, statements, benefits, job descriptions and forms cluttered my mind. I read through them like a true college student, not reading every word, but focusing on concepts and reading selective passages to reinforce intuition.

Lunch.

Chinese buffet. Boss was buying. Me-likey.

The four of us sat, eating silently. Every now and then, the two would talk to each other about the job or whatever have them. They asked myself and the other woman shallow probing questions. I gathered that this was not because they didn't like us, but maybe they felt awkward too. I brought up topics that I was comfortable talking about. One of the guys lives in Irvine, a neighbor to my home-city of Tustin. We talked about the area, and the spots we liked to go. I brought up my favorite spots, which happen to be facilities for the purchase of alcohol, one new wine store in particular. Thinking that this would be a good opportunity to have an extended conversation on wine, he responded that he didn't really drink wine. Damn. Back to square one.

When we came back. I was free to walk around the office since I had "read very quickly". I picked out a cubicle, moved in a comfortable desk chair, fired up my new computer, and moved the boxes of stored files out and into the cubicle next door. Of course, the first thing that went through my mind was the scene in "Office Space" where Ron Livingston's character pushes down one of the walls of his cubicle to create a corner office. When the boxes were moved out, the prospects of space weren't so bleak, but I suddenly knew that this was a place of business, and not of day dreaming (even if I were to day dream, the southern California atmosphere isn't as picturesque as Disneyland brouchures may indicate. Being so close to Los Angeles, it would be a rarity to have a clear sky day, which failed to make the "outside" view of the cubicle next to me a selling point.

Just when I had become comfortable at my new post, my boss walked by to tell me that I was free for the day. Maybe tomorrow I'll bring a fish to gut and a bag of Cheetoes to smear with my fingers over my desk.

Dont' get me wrong, I love this job. Seriously.