Weird lunch

Allow me to share my lunch time.

I've been asked to toggle 2 things, answering calls when the volume peaks, and answering emails. Piss poor manpower planning again.... all the "senior" officers are on leave, or about to go on leave, and there are 400 emails sitting in the inbox. And no one is asked to clear'em. So much for a 24 hour turnaround.

But that is another story.

I'm sitting in this coffeeshop, waiting for my food, hungry, tired, fed up with the planning, dragging on a fag, just starting to get into my book. One of my co-workers just pops up of no-where and plonks down at my table. Not a single by-your-leave. Just grabs chair, sits down, looks at me.

Ok.
Fine.
I accept that some women cannot go to the frickin' toilet without holding another girls hand.
But this one.... this one is weird.

C drags chair, sits ass down. Fiona puts her book away regretfully.....

Hey C, lunch break?
Yeah.
How's your shift?
Shit. I wanna leave. I wanna quit.
*Keeps quiet. Stares into the distance*
Oh cool. Have you found an alternative job yet?
No
*Keeps quiet. Stares into the distance*
I see. Ok. When does your contract end then?
April.
*Keeps quiet. Stares into the distance*
Ok. So what kind of work are you looking to get into?
I dunno. Not sure yet.
*Keeps quiet. Stares into the distance*
Ahem. Ok. How about some lunch? I've ordered. What would you like?
I dunno. Haven't decided.
*Keeps quiet. Stares into the distance*

It dawns on me that this woman, who's thurst herself most unwelcomingly into my sacred, quiet, lunch time is just here to .... keep me company? share my food? enjoy my company? God forbid that she should actually WANT company. I'm working on the conversation on my own and it's starting to piss me off.

I want to bring out my book and ignore her, but that's just too rude. I couldn't bring myself to do it. So we end up sitting in silence. Complete silence. And I'm resenting her intrusion into my private time.

People find it weird that I go with a book everywhere. But I've become terribly self reliant. I'll go anywhere, do anything, and if I have to sit down and eat by myself, my book is a wonderful distraction. I actually enjoy it. A book, coffee and cigs during my meal break is something I actually look forward to. I WANT the solitude. I'm on the damned phone all day trying to make nice to customers and the last thing I want to do is to have to work at being social around someone I have nothing to common with.

Towards the end of the meal, 2 older colleagues join us. They're actually senior staff and the 2 of them and myself chat animatedly away. The difference in our conversation and C's and mine is miles away.


This company sure throws up some weird people.