“Niiiiiiice,” he hisses.
I don't even have to turn around.
He is talking to his monitor again.
I don't even have to turn around.
He is talking to his monitor again.
If I hadn't been working on a lifetime of aloofness, I would have
a hard time ignoring this.
“Yessssssss,” he whispers. Roughly back-to-back in a
double-wide cubicle, I turn in time to see him clap softly, his damp hands
making soft, happy sounds.
I turn away. Mildly dissatisfied with life, in
general, and my life, specifically, I want to tweak him, want to mess with his
large, moist brain.
He begins to click the top of his pen: in, out. In,
out.
I lean back in my chair, close my eyes. I think about subsistence farming, about potatoes and goats and their funny eyes.
“Niiiiiiice,” he whispers.
We do not sit close enough that I can just smack him
across the back of the ol’ brain pan, but he most certainly is close enough for
me to accurately toss any number of desk implements; and so I look around. I
have a stapler, a magnetic paperclip holder, a telephone, and a rather large
soup spoon I keep meaning to take back to the kitchen.
I lift the soup spoon.
He turns to face me, and I casually drop the spoon among the piles of clamoring files on my desk.
"Don't you love when everything works out," he asks, beaming. "I've been working on this for days."
Intern Boy is young, erstwhile, and to be forgiven his silly and too often verbally relayed excitement regarding screens full of algorithmic script.
I smile back at him. I remember being like that.
And it was niiiiiiiiice.
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20 comments:
Niiiiiiice!
Niiiiiiice!
Yes, we need to be kind to the idealism of youth. It's fragile, but nice.
"Yesssss!"? I must confess I reserve that for very rare intimate moments, but perhaps I'm doing it wrong. Still. Bless him.
And now it's just 'annooying' lol.
Hari OM
Hmmm, not sure I grew out of this one; then again I have been fortunate in mostly having self-contained, sound-proofed, slightly padded cubicles... YAM xx
I'm glad I didn't have the cynicism and other qualities formed after years of being in the field when I was just starting out. It seems one loses the excitement of getting it right, and replaces it with 'yeah, yeah, whatever'.
It's nice until some other higher up a-hole takes credit for it!
He's happy! Clap along. Or just let him have it with that spoon.
Am feeling slightly more optimistic today and so may just take up muttering myself. I'm sure he doesn't know he does it, but he just got through whispering -- and I'm not kidding -- "I knew it. I just knew it."
Good ol' Intern Boy.
I do recall the days. And when I got older, watching the young staffers have their aha moments. Now.....?
Newbie vs. Been There, Done That .
Ah, come on, people - don't you ever do this when you're alone? I do.
Important: To avoid embarrassment, and apparently to avoid being slugged by a spoon, make SURE you're alone :)
Head south, Pearlie. The skies are always sunny down here and even the goats are friendly.
Bet you five bucks he was reacting to the World Cup and not his work load. Just a hunch;)
The talking to oneself and/or the computer isn't just for the innocent, young interns. It's just that the language changes the older and more jaded you become. Now, instead of saying "yesss," you will find me muttering "you @#@$@#$@#$@#$!!!!!
My reaction was pretty much what Gigi said. I used to catch myself muttering and hope the young man in the next cube couldn't hear me. Fortunately, everyone under 30 seems to have ear buds glued in, so he always politely pretended to be listening to music.
I usually say that at the end of your posts. Niiiice.
Don't knock it--at least he is working. That is more than my co-workers do. And that is even more annoying than what you described.
Ah, that feeling of things working out just right. Niiiiice.
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