Death

Luther, my boss, is busy at his desk.  He always is.  Luther’s the go-to guy around here.  He knows the answer to every question and how to handle every situation.  He is The Hive’s under appreciated hero.  But lately he’s been tired.  He snaps at people more.  He rubs his old blue eyes more than he used to.   The white hair that sits on top of his head has been more ruffled than it used to be.

I wander into the mailroom where Luther has his desk.  His own little empire, the mailroom always smells like coffee.  I’m never awake this time of day.  I try to think if I have enough change to get a cup of coffee.  I slap down the pile of mail in my hand on the mail desk and start sorting.

“Morning, Worker Bee,” Luther says.  “How was your weekend?”

I want to tell Luther that it was a terrible weekend.  I want to say that I wasted time doing things that weren’t important and because of that I have a whole mess of things to catch up on.  I want to tell him that I drank more than I should’ve on Saturday and spent the rest of the weekend feeling sorry for myself.  But Luther is a busy guy and I don’t want to keep him.  “Eh, can’t complain,” I say.  “How was yours?”

“Bad,” he says.  “One of my horses died.”

I put down the letter I have in my hand and look at him.  For the first time, Luther looks like an old man.  He’s hunched over a little, his face closer to the computer screen than it needs to be.  He sees that I’m looking at him instead of the mail and faces me.  The wrinkles in his face are more defined.  The bags under his eyes are predominant and his cheeks are red.

“Luther, I’m sorry,” I say.  I feel terrible.  Luther has a wife, two kids and a grand-kid.  He’s a a man who often has a lot on his plate.  His horses are a place of comfort.  He doesn’t have to explain to them why he was late coming home.  They don’t care if he didn’t order new pens or if the package going to corporate was three days late.  He can saddle them up and get away from everybody and everything.  He can be free, if only for a few hours.

I watch Luther as he describes what happens.  He’s reliving it right in front of me.  I want to cry.  My weekend, as lame as it seemed, suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.  I feel like a jerk. 

“Listen, if you need to leave early or anything, just go.  Aaron and I will cover,” I say.  I’m always uncomfortable around death, but I want to spare Luther the awkwardness of it all.  He smiles at me.

“Thanks, maybe I will,” he says.  He turns back to his computer and I go back to sorting mail.  Today, I think I will be thankful for what I have.

New Guy

The Hive is quiet today.  Aaron, the guy in the desk next to mine, is new.  He’s still getting to know The Hive and the other workers.  The other workers are curious about him.  They come up to our area and make small talk with him.  They ask me about him when he’s away from the desk.

“He’s fine,” I tell them.  “It’s nice to finally have the help.”

The majority of the employees here are older than me, Aaron included.  Most of them have kids my age, some have grandkids my age.  I’ve never really seen this as a problem.  Sure, it limits social interaction outside of work (they’re not crazy about drinking cheap booze from red plastic cups, go figure), but for the most part I like my co-workers and I think they like me.  There are some other young’uns around here.  I remember the age gap more when they’re around.  Especially when they come up to our area and shoot the shit.

“Hey guys, what’s goin’ on?” Casey asks. He’s a short, squat guy who goes to the University here.  He’s twenty-three, maybe twenty-four and awkward.  He talks like a man who’s spent his entire life trying to pick up chicks.

“Not a whole lot.  It’s been quiet,” I say.  He picks up a pen and twirls it in his fingers.  I can’t tell if he’s trying to show off or if he’s nervous.  Probably both. 

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” I mention.  “Have you met Aaron?”

“Yeah, we’ve met,”  Aaron chimes in.  “How’s it goin’, man?”  He flashes a smile.  It’s genuine.  He’s still new.  Over time he’ll learn how to plaster it on.  It’ll become second nature. 

“Dude, I’ve been drunk all week. Living every day like the weekend. Rockin’ and rollin’,” Casey says.  He giggles.  Aaron looks bemused and I roll my eyes.  Christ.  Ignoring the fact that he used the phrase “rockin’ and rollin'” without being an extra in Grease,  Casey is obviously just showing off.  Well, mark me down for being annoyed.  I just don’t find being trashed everyday impressive.  Chalk it up to having good taste.

Casey goes on about his drunken escapades.  Aaron interrupts him.  “You seem to go out a lot for someone who just moved here,”

“I’ve lived here for a while now,” Casey says, looking confused.  “You’re probably thinking of someone else.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Aaron says.  “I’m probably just thinking of that other drunk guy.”

Casey’s cheeks turn pink and I smile.  A real, genuine smile spreads over my entire face.  Aaron turns back to his computer.  It’s nice to finally have some help around here.

I Work Here: A Beginning

Greetings! I’m Worker Bee. I work at The Hive and have been here for three years. I do entry level stuff: copying, filing, e-mailing, lots of things that end in -ing. I have a love-hate relationship with The Hive. I love that it pays me well, most of my co-workers are pleasant enough and I get an hour for lunch. I hate that I have to be here most of the time, my customers and clients can sometimes say and do idiotic things and I get the constant feeling that I’m wasting my precious days of youth getting a fluorescent light tan. The Hive can be a dull and depressing place sometimes.

That’s where you come in, dear reader. Sure, The Hive pays me enough to keep myself afloat, but it doesn’t pay me enough to get myself into therapy (or anger management) four times a week. So in lieu of paying a stranger to listen to me complain for an hour about the fact that I’m always the one who has to refill the paper clip jar, I’m going to write about it here…for free! Joy.

My plan is to update this as often as work time will allow me. Check back for regular updates.

Let’s do it to it!