A lousy day walked out of the morning and decided to keep me company today. I did need company - At 7 am IST, in Mumbai, on my way to work, I was lonely, vacant and empty. So I accepted her offer and took it to my workstation. But instead of staying by my desk and listening to my woes, she only added to them.
She poisoned the manager and the testing team against me and so, I had to sit and work. I worked on this document, that paragraph, this introduction, that sentence, this phrase, that noun, this gerund, and dozen other summaries. But work just would not stop nagging me.
Naturally then, I lost all respect for the day and did not even bother to look for it. Instead, I walked up to the manager.
"You want me to finish this?"
"Yes," he said not knowing what else to say.
"But it's 6:00." I, though, knew what to say.
"So?"
"I leave at 6:30."
"Oh they will finish by 7:30. It won't take time."
"You're sure?"
"Well, they said they will."
Well I had a whole encyclopaedia of reasons why they will not finish even before 10:30. But to recite them all needed stamina and I had none of it left. So, I left him at his desk and collapsed at mine.
At 6:15, I saw all pack their bags and I cursed my manager.
At 6:20, I saw all run for the bus and I cursed the testing team.
And at 6:30, I cursed the client as well.
By 7:00, I lost my habitual politeness.
By 7:30, I lost my cool.
And by 8:30, I was at my annoying best. I refused to fix testing errors and even explained why.
"I cannot fix that."
"Why?"
"Because three people looked at it and found no fault with that."
"But it looks like an error to me."
"And it looks like a perfectly normal sentence to me."
If they loved to irritate, so did I. And irritate them I did. And I did it well. But since they were testy by nature, they did not give up that easily. They came back at 9:30 with a few numbers.
"These numbers?"
"Yes?"
"You need to put the comma here and here."
"But I did say no, and even told you why."
"Well, does the stylesheet say so?"
"Yes."
"Well then we must check the stylesheet."
I exploded.
"Why don't you take my word for it man?," I asked trying my best to sound normal, "I asked an experienced hand and she told me it's correct."
"But we need to check the stylesheet."
"Fine fine," I said, spit flying from my mouth, "please do me the honour and check."
They did me that honour and had to shut up and accept my word.
At 10:00, I began to run out of explanations and so, gave none.
"I see you did not accept that (error resolution). Why?"
"Why? What why? It's upto me to accept or not. I did not."
"But there has to be a reason."
"Because I say so is enough of a reason," I snapped, "There can be no definitive other."
I was surprised I snapped so well and they were equally, if not more, scandalized that I did. And in that state, at around 12:00 am, they backed down and closed the bug sheet.
Sleep by then had come to pick me up. She carried me out of the office, into the lift, then into the rickshaw, and finally, into the train. I did not talk much to her. I helloed her, she helloed me , but no, we did not talk.
"Remember you have to reach home."
"Oh yes I do."
"If you talk to me, you may not get there."
"Oh yes I know."
And so, we sat silent. She spoke to people on the train but studiously ignored me. I had a lot to bother about anyway and that lot kept me occupied till the train strolled up to my station.
I got out and Sleep walked with me. I walked into the house and she disappeared as I dined on prawns, potatoes and an omelette. While I let the spoon battle these three, I thought I'll pretend to be annoyed at her behaviour, but I ended up looking drowsy instead. As I finished my dinner, I decided not to make a scene and quietly went to bed. Well, my patience paid off, for by 2:00 am IST, she and I were in the midst of the most engaging conversation I had ever had.
She poisoned the manager and the testing team against me and so, I had to sit and work. I worked on this document, that paragraph, this introduction, that sentence, this phrase, that noun, this gerund, and dozen other summaries. But work just would not stop nagging me.
Naturally then, I lost all respect for the day and did not even bother to look for it. Instead, I walked up to the manager.
"You want me to finish this?"
"Yes," he said not knowing what else to say.
"But it's 6:00." I, though, knew what to say.
"So?"
"I leave at 6:30."
"Oh they will finish by 7:30. It won't take time."
"You're sure?"
"Well, they said they will."
Well I had a whole encyclopaedia of reasons why they will not finish even before 10:30. But to recite them all needed stamina and I had none of it left. So, I left him at his desk and collapsed at mine.
At 6:15, I saw all pack their bags and I cursed my manager.
At 6:20, I saw all run for the bus and I cursed the testing team.
And at 6:30, I cursed the client as well.
By 7:00, I lost my habitual politeness.
By 7:30, I lost my cool.
And by 8:30, I was at my annoying best. I refused to fix testing errors and even explained why.
"I cannot fix that."
"Why?"
"Because three people looked at it and found no fault with that."
"But it looks like an error to me."
"And it looks like a perfectly normal sentence to me."
If they loved to irritate, so did I. And irritate them I did. And I did it well. But since they were testy by nature, they did not give up that easily. They came back at 9:30 with a few numbers.
"These numbers?"
"Yes?"
"You need to put the comma here and here."
"But I did say no, and even told you why."
"Well, does the stylesheet say so?"
"Yes."
"Well then we must check the stylesheet."
I exploded.
"Why don't you take my word for it man?," I asked trying my best to sound normal, "I asked an experienced hand and she told me it's correct."
"But we need to check the stylesheet."
"Fine fine," I said, spit flying from my mouth, "please do me the honour and check."
They did me that honour and had to shut up and accept my word.
At 10:00, I began to run out of explanations and so, gave none.
"I see you did not accept that (error resolution). Why?"
"Why? What why? It's upto me to accept or not. I did not."
"But there has to be a reason."
"Because I say so is enough of a reason," I snapped, "There can be no definitive other."
I was surprised I snapped so well and they were equally, if not more, scandalized that I did. And in that state, at around 12:00 am, they backed down and closed the bug sheet.
Sleep by then had come to pick me up. She carried me out of the office, into the lift, then into the rickshaw, and finally, into the train. I did not talk much to her. I helloed her, she helloed me , but no, we did not talk.
"Remember you have to reach home."
"Oh yes I do."
"If you talk to me, you may not get there."
"Oh yes I know."
And so, we sat silent. She spoke to people on the train but studiously ignored me. I had a lot to bother about anyway and that lot kept me occupied till the train strolled up to my station.
I got out and Sleep walked with me. I walked into the house and she disappeared as I dined on prawns, potatoes and an omelette. While I let the spoon battle these three, I thought I'll pretend to be annoyed at her behaviour, but I ended up looking drowsy instead. As I finished my dinner, I decided not to make a scene and quietly went to bed. Well, my patience paid off, for by 2:00 am IST, she and I were in the midst of the most engaging conversation I had ever had.
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