Office Politics

I’ve been spending time in an office environment as I learn more about being a journalist (and figuring out if this is what I want to do with the rest of my life – it’s not quite). I must say, I am not keen to be working in an office for the rest of my life.

I am never comfortable, the office climate is just awkward (both hot and cold, and not matching the outdoor weather, which makes dressing for the day complicated), and there is nothing to look at. We actually learn about it in HKE: we need visual relief, like a pot plant, or more windows so we can have contact to the outside environment. This place just feels so unnatural!

It’s also noisy. This is an open plan office, and my mom works in an open plan office. You can hear every person’s conversation all the time. And the cellphones with their weird ring tones, and people who aren’t at their desk when their phone rings endlessly, sure, maybe I could get used to it, but man that’s an irritation!

One of the reasons I chose to specialise in Writing and Editing rather than Television Journalism was because TV was forecast to involve a lot of group work. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind working in a team, so long as it’s a team and everyone pulls their weight, and group discussions can go down constructively and in a timely manner rather than unproductive banter. I don’t even have to like you to work with you. But as soon as petty politics comes into play, that’s when I take issue.

When you do group assignments there will always be that one person who does absolutely nothing, and they piggyback on the rest, never contributing. Whinging in those situations is irritating: they should just suffer some sort of repercussion and hopefully they learn from their mistakes, and improve next time. This is where office politics comes into play.

So this post may have become a rant of some sort, and I haven’t gone into the issue of office politics enough, but it’s going to take quite a while to convince me that this is the right kind of working environment for me. Some day soon I will share my dream office plan with you, and trust me, it will revolutionise offices for everyone. Or just me. Whatever, I don’t mind.

Why can't I have my cake and eat it too?

Do you have to choose one or the other? Why should we have to choose? If there is more than one option for something, and all the options are good, then why can't we just go for it?

The fact that there's consequences in life really bothers me. It's an inconvenience that can make life boring and complicated. But these consequences keep us safe, so I'll bear with it and endure the deliberation between choosing my cake, or eating what's given to me without complaining.

On a literal note: I want cake to be calorie-free. I wish I could just eat everything without the consequence of putting on weight, or having to do excessive amounts of exercise just so that I don't put on weight (which happens...). Food is delicious, and I look forward to next weekend when I get to eat ALL THE FOOD for four weeks straight... And no one can tell me off or warn me of any consequences. Follow my food blog for details of my escapades: thekendz.com

Has IM made us more spontaneous?

I have a friend who refuses to get a Blackberry, which, I suppose is somewhat understandable. He has an iPhone (far cooler, I guess, to the point where I will be joining i-Ness in the very near future). But, he also refuses to download an instant messenger app like WhatsApp because he doesn't believe that people need to be able to get hold of him 24/7, and if it really is an emergency, they can phone him, or send him a message on Facebook. As a loyal BBM-er, or IM-er at the very least, I struggle to wrap my head around this.

My loyal curve

The point of advancing technology is to make life faster, simpler, easier, and, I find in many cases, cheaper. Because I've grown to have full on chats with people, one message isn't enough, it will be a stream of conversation, otherwise I guess I would just send an Email. So when I want to talk to someone who is not connected like this, I have to spend money on many messages, when I already spend money on data, and the phone itself. I am not saying I resent having to spend money to talk to this person, but it really is an inconvenience.

Another thing I do: because IM is instant, I'll type out a message and press enter to send it. When I have to send a text (SMS), I press send, before considering if that's all that I wanted to say in the message. And if I forget to mention something, I have to send another message (which is fine over IM), but which costs money, again. There is just such a commitment to the sending of a message: are you sure you've said everything that you needed to? The length of the message is limiting as well.

I really enjoy the instant nature of the IM. Particularly with BBM, if I see someone's update, it nudges me to talk to them; it's a conversation starter. It's also easier to make plans with someone if you can do it via a conversation: plans can be adapted and moulded as you learn about what the other person is available to do, or even as inspiration hits, or when brainstorming for plans. You don't have to commit to an idea or solid invitation, but you can play things by ear a lot more.

I'm not saying this is impossible to do without IM. But I find that I am less likely to message someone randomly if they aren't quickly and easily available. I find it with my friends as well. It's easier to get things done faster in this evermore connected world, and I feel that we should take advantage of it where we can.

I can't find my pen...

You know it's exam time when...

Now, where did I leave my pen...?

I was just holding it before I picked up my laptop, I'm sure I just put it down on the book I was making notes in, how could it have gone so far away...

Oh... There it is... Please excuse me if you find chewing on the back of a pen offensive. This one does not have much life left anyway. I'm studying like a boss, but going through ink incredibly fast.

My current predicament

I love exam time, which I understand not everyone can understand, but each to his own, right? What me and my fellow student colleagues do all have in common is the impending decision time: what are we going to do with the rest of our lives, and are we ready for the big bad world?

I am majoring in three pretty different subjects, because I couldn't decide which path I wanted to follow, not much has changed, but now I actually kind of have to pick a path... Man I hate making big decisions! Faced with so many choices, I keep telling myself that I am lucky to have choices at all. I just have too many options. I also can't choose the one that will make me happiest, the one I really want to do, or the best one, because I know they will all make me happy, or work out really well in the end.

Option 1: Stay at Rhodes next year and do Human Kinetics and Ergonomics Honours (Then possibly option 2 after that, which we can combine into "Option 3")...

Yay, exercise! 

Option 2: Stay at Rhodes next year and do Health Journalism Honours (provided they actually offer it for 2014, which there is rumour that they won't do...)

I took this photo for a health journalism piece last year.
This is also the studio where I instruct indoor cycling,
which is something I am loving doing.

Option 4: Go back home <3 study Sports Science or Biokinetics at Tuks or at UJ (provided I get accepted...) (this is a bunch of options in one. I miss home so much, I am truly torn as to whether I should go back or not...

Some of my favourite people that I miss terribly in Jozi

An old photo but probably the early days of one of my
closest friendships. I miss this girl so much! 

Option 5: Move to England

One of the streets leading away from Buckingham
Palace. I'm pretty British, I look forward to a
bustling London lifestyle

Problem: I miss home, I have jobs and independence in Grahamstown, I don't know what I want to do with my life.

So I have to make some of these choices soon, so that I can start applying for them and applying for "funding", which will be a challenge as well, people haven't been too clear on the process, so amid my exam prep I have to look into it perhaps.

In the meantime, if I do apply for Honours (which I will do "just in case" I do decide it's what I want to do), I need to have the marks earning me a position, which will be these marks from these exams now...  You could say I'm a little stressed right now, or you could understand by the fact that I'm eating 3x my "daily calorie allowance", which is steadily pushing "looking good"for my 21st in 5 weeks out of the equation...

Birthdays and silly things I'd waste my money on

My birthday is coming up soon, yay me. On a related note, a really close friend of mine has her birthday coming up soon too, and it's a 21st. There is potential for a Harry Potter theme, and, my, does this have me all giddy. By the way, I love Harry Potter... But we won't go into too much detail on that, apart from the fact that I've been requested to dress up as Hermione (obviously!), so I've been doing some online shopping.

The first item that would be required is the straightforward outfit: Robes. This keeps the outfit very wizarding and such, and obviously I need Gryffindor robes, because that's Hermione's house (makes sense, right?). If I were to choose which house I would be in, I would probably have ended up in Ravenclaw. Make of that deduction what you will...

Universal studios Gryffindor robes

Those are the real deal right there, but they come with a real deal price tag, so for a more reasonable purchase, this may be considered: Amazon

The next obvious item for a witch (or wizard) would be their wand. So here is Hermione's wand...

Again from Amazon 

... The reviews seem pretty positive too, unlike many of the other items. The box is really cool as well, straight from Olivander's. BUT!!!

But... Then I found this...

Dumbledore's wand... The Elder Wand.
The Death Stick, the Wand of Destiny. Yes, you know the one

So I am faced with the slight dilemma because Hermione can't exactly be going around with Dumbledore's wand, even though it's so cool and who wouldn't want this wand? I do think I'll have to settle for 10¾" vine wood, with a dragon heartstring core. 

And finally, to finish off Hermione's character, even though she no longer has it...

Her Time Turner

I think I could make a great Hermione Granger.

I'm not the only one who is sad that I will never to get to spend hours with her and her friends ever again, but I suppose that's why we have themed birthday parties: living for the dream...

When you lose a friend

I'm the kind of person where, if you aren't willing to fight to have me in your life, then if you drift away from me, I won't fight for you - if I'm not worth your time, then why should I struggle to convince you that you need me around?

I've lost friends in my lifetime, who hasn't? Some have been inconsequential - they had a good run in my life, but we just drifted and had no roles to fulfil in each other's lives anymore, and both parties were okay with that. Once or twice, however, there have been important people whose departure from their position close to my heart has caused considerable pain. This, understandably, has happened in the case of boyfriends - if I'm dating you, you are pretty much guaranteed to be a bestie of mine, otherwise why are we even dating? So break ups have caused lost friendships.

Then there's the cases where you have both have changed, and no matter how hard you try, the friendship isn't the same: you don't have the same interests, you just don't get along and have fun in the same ways that you used to, and I've found that I've just had to move on with life and accept that things and people change, even if you don't want them to.

My latest dilemma: when something has happened that shouldn't be coming between you and the friend, but it does. Kind of like if you didn't know your friend was into some guy, and you end up dating him. It's not your fault that you didn't know she was interested in him, and it kind of leaves you in an awkward position - do you give up on the friendship to be with this new guy? Do you leave the guy and save the friendship because friends will always be there for you, but relationships are more than likely temporary. But what if the damage has already been done to the friendship?

This isn't really my situation at the moment, but the damage has probably been done. I don't want to let go of this friendship, it was important to me, even if it did have a weird dynamic. But then I have to question why I want to save it? If they don't want me around anymore, am I just doing myself and the relationship a disservice by forcing it?

My biggest challenge here, I suppose, is the arrogant assumption that this person needs me, and I want to be needed - if they don't need me, am I needed at all? I don't want to lose them, but maybe it won't make a difference. So, like with all things, time will tell, and time will heal if it doesn't all turn out okay.

(Note: the pictures used in this post are just illustrations of friends, not necessarily friendships that are no more)