I'm still not feeling well. This afternoon, I was caught up at work and feeling really lousy. I had two late afternoon meetings, so I checked to see if my rescheduling these would be a problem. It was not, so I left early to rest at home and drink plenty of fluids.
I have mentioned that my workplace is highly diverse. I revel in this diversity.
Age is, for the most part, not an issue. At least not as far as being an older employee goes. There are quite a few of us.
A young Hindu man (I looked up the origin of his name) at the office never fails to treat me with the utmost respect. I imagine he is very polite with everyone. He says he should pay respect to my esteemed position and age.
I'm not at all sure what 'esteemed position' he is referring to; we both work at a similar level.
He does seek advice from me on certain work matters.
The young man who sits next to me, whom I consider to be my mentor, now shares many thoughts on work and life with me. We are, to the extent possible and appropriate at work, becoming friends. I am easily old enough to be his mother. He is generous with his time and very willingly shares his knowledge.
Both the young Hindu man and my "next door neighbor" share thoughts and information with me through text messaging. I am starting to see more value in this mode of communication. No one can overhear, for one thing, although it is likely at least some of these messages are monitored by corporate security.
This morning, I had the rare opportunity to speak with a coworker by phone.
Her computer was down, so there was no other option.
Multi-tasking is highly valued at the office. The studies showing that multi-tasking may lead one to erroneously think more is being accomplished (while in fact efficiency and effectiveness drop) are apparently unknown at work. Multi-tasking is both expected and admired.
Early in the afternoon, I was on a conference call with people in states spread out across the continent. At the same time, I was in text message chats with two coworkers. In addition, I was responding to the global help desk through their instant message program while answering an email.
I'm glad that, at least in conference calls, he does not announce to callers that "ma'am" has joined the meeting. He uses my name for these calls.
