entry sound?" Suzie asked while finally looking right at me. How does it sound? It sounds terrible Suzie! I couldn’t muster the courage to let her know how I really felt and instead kept a stoic face, trying to be the grateful hire who would do whatever was best for the company. I was the one coming here for a job and should be thankful to find work.
Suzie brought me to my new cubical, smack dab in the middle of hundreds just like it. The room filled with the sounds of keyboard keys being struck rapidly and the buzzing of the fluorescent lights. This was already worse than I imagined.
"Ok, why don't you get settled and when you're ready, there's a stack of files right next to the computer!"
With that, Suzie was gone, likely in a rush to get out of this boring cube farm as fast as possible.
After the computer started and I had looked at some of the spreadsheets, I couldn't believe it. All I had to do was enter the number from the different fields into a database and that was it. Sixteen years of schooling to do something I could've done in kindergarten. After a deep sigh, I did my best to consider myself grateful.
After typing in what felt like a thousand entries, I snuck a glance at the time and my heart fell when I realized only twenty minutes had passed. The stack of files next to me was endless and I wanted to stand up and scream right there in my cube.
"Hey..." a head suddenly popped up over my cubical wall, a cute, brown-haired boy looking right at me. "You new?"
My heart fluttered at the prospect of having actual human interaction. With a genuine smile I stood and extended my hand to him. "Madelyn," I said and waited for his hand to meet mine.
"Yeah, cool. Hey so look, it's Becky in accounting's birthday. We're asking everyone to pitch in for a cake..."
There was a ten-dollar bill in my wallet, the only money I had on me. My plan was for this cash to get something to eat once I was mercifully awarded a break. Without it, I’d have nothing to eat. Though I heard and felt my tummy already rumbling, something told me things would be hard for me if I flubbed my first social opportunity in the workplace.
"I only have a ten..." I said while fishing through my bag as though there might magically be more money in there. My new friend didn't waste any time once the bill appeared in my hand.
"That'll do," he said happily while reaching for the only money I had, snatching it quickly from me. I wanted, no needed, something back as change but after a few moments, it was clear it wouldn’t be coming. Now I didn't even have lunch to look forward to but hey, cake. My new friend disappeared quickly without any indication of when or where I would get some of this super expensive cake. I returned to the mind-numbing typing, dreaming of the dessert that would hopefully arrive soon.
My cellphone had been set to silent but it was the only thing that offered a break from the boredom. Checking it real quick allowed me a temporary escape from the endless stream of numbers. Who was I expecting to call or text? Absolutely no one but I still checked once every half hour. Imagine my surprise when I did notice a new text waiting for me. Imagine the chill that ran over my body when I saw who had sent it.
“Hey” was all Derek’s message read. To the girl whose heart he ripped out and stomped on, Derek could only manage to type “Hey”. My hatred for the man burned with the fury of one thousand suns and grew stronger as I bore witness to his audacity. Did he expect me to come running to him, all is forgiven now that he had texted me one simple, neutral word? What bothered me the most was how he had now invaded my thoughts, barging in at an opportune time. The numbers bored me to tears so instead I pondered my ex-boyfriend though I tried not to. Conflicted, I threw my phone back in my bag and pledged not to check it for the rest of the day.
It was no use trying to concentrate on typing the endless steam of numbers, I couldn't take
Suzie brought me to my new cubical, smack dab in the middle of hundreds just like it. The room filled with the sounds of keyboard keys being struck rapidly and the buzzing of the fluorescent lights. This was already worse than I imagined.
"Ok, why don't you get settled and when you're ready, there's a stack of files right next to the computer!"
With that, Suzie was gone, likely in a rush to get out of this boring cube farm as fast as possible.
After the computer started and I had looked at some of the spreadsheets, I couldn't believe it. All I had to do was enter the number from the different fields into a database and that was it. Sixteen years of schooling to do something I could've done in kindergarten. After a deep sigh, I did my best to consider myself grateful.
After typing in what felt like a thousand entries, I snuck a glance at the time and my heart fell when I realized only twenty minutes had passed. The stack of files next to me was endless and I wanted to stand up and scream right there in my cube.
"Hey..." a head suddenly popped up over my cubical wall, a cute, brown-haired boy looking right at me. "You new?"
My heart fluttered at the prospect of having actual human interaction. With a genuine smile I stood and extended my hand to him. "Madelyn," I said and waited for his hand to meet mine.
"Yeah, cool. Hey so look, it's Becky in accounting's birthday. We're asking everyone to pitch in for a cake..."
There was a ten-dollar bill in my wallet, the only money I had on me. My plan was for this cash to get something to eat once I was mercifully awarded a break. Without it, I’d have nothing to eat. Though I heard and felt my tummy already rumbling, something told me things would be hard for me if I flubbed my first social opportunity in the workplace.
"I only have a ten..." I said while fishing through my bag as though there might magically be more money in there. My new friend didn't waste any time once the bill appeared in my hand.
"That'll do," he said happily while reaching for the only money I had, snatching it quickly from me. I wanted, no needed, something back as change but after a few moments, it was clear it wouldn’t be coming. Now I didn't even have lunch to look forward to but hey, cake. My new friend disappeared quickly without any indication of when or where I would get some of this super expensive cake. I returned to the mind-numbing typing, dreaming of the dessert that would hopefully arrive soon.
My cellphone had been set to silent but it was the only thing that offered a break from the boredom. Checking it real quick allowed me a temporary escape from the endless stream of numbers. Who was I expecting to call or text? Absolutely no one but I still checked once every half hour. Imagine my surprise when I did notice a new text waiting for me. Imagine the chill that ran over my body when I saw who had sent it.
“Hey” was all Derek’s message read. To the girl whose heart he ripped out and stomped on, Derek could only manage to type “Hey”. My hatred for the man burned with the fury of one thousand suns and grew stronger as I bore witness to his audacity. Did he expect me to come running to him, all is forgiven now that he had texted me one simple, neutral word? What bothered me the most was how he had now invaded my thoughts, barging in at an opportune time. The numbers bored me to tears so instead I pondered my ex-boyfriend though I tried not to. Conflicted, I threw my phone back in my bag and pledged not to check it for the rest of the day.
It was no use trying to concentrate on typing the endless steam of numbers, I couldn't take
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