The Land of Cubes

In my previous job I was in a two-person office. While it was true on occasion we grated on each other’s nerves, for the most part we got along just fine and I spent nearly 6 years with that roommate.

When I came to my present employer, I entered the land of cubes (cubicles). Initially, I found myself in locations that weren’t too bad; fewer cubes total, fewer people in the region in general, and the people with whom I worked were pretty conscious of the others around them.

I have since moved upstairs, where the concentration of people is greater, the cubes smaller and closer together. While most seem to be concerned with noise and their neighbors, it does not matter; I am now privy to the ins and outs of many lives. And some people are just naturally noisier people. You can hear phone conversations and listen to work conversations.

This company has done something right; it provided us with the taller cubicles. While sitting, you cannot see out of your cube. Many places get the short cubicles that mean that each person can see everything going on in the cubes near them.

I am still not sure what my feelings about the cubes are. On the one hand, it does seem more conducive to work. You know that everyone around you can see and hear your business, so you keep that business about the job. But we are also human beings; things go on in our lives with which we must deal, even if that is at work. We cannot work 100% of the time we are at work, we need to take those 10 minute stretch breaks and think about something else. Cubicle land is not conducive to that; I cannot help but feel guilty when I take a mental vacation. I even feel guilty when I eat lunch at my desk and choose to cruise the internet or read personal emails during that time.

Cubicles also seem somewhat fascist to me. It makes me feel like it saps my individuality and freedom of expression in favor of stark conformity. I am at my best when I can follow my ideas and be creative in my thought processes. I feel stymied, at times, being in my cubicle.

But I have Fred, my potted plant, and George, my self-sustaining terrarium made inside an old 100-CD plastic container. I have pictures of my family and magnets of some favorite super-heroes. I have an MC Escher mouse pad to boggle my mind.

My individuality refuses to die in the land of cubicles. Vive la resistance!