Unanticipated Changes
I hate to post twice in a day, but sometimes one needs to vent, regardless of niceties.
I do not handle changes well. I'm getting better at it, but it's an acquired taste I haven't entirely acquired. I do fine if I know a change is coming, or better yet know what the change is. But when changes come with no warning, changes that directly affect me, they tends to stress me out in ways I'd rather not be stressed.
Over the past few years my office at work has undergone changes, almost none of them for the better. Shortly after starting work my desk was moved into a room that doubled as a reference library. More accurately, the reference library acquired my desk and me with it. It never became an office. Privacy was never guranteed. And having three or four people walk in and launch into loud debates having nothing to do with me became the norm.
I don't always work in my office, thank goodness. I work at a remote worksite from time to time. This does give relief from the working conditions, but it also leaves the door open for unexpected remodeling. One fine day I came in from having been at the remote work site for several solid weeks to find my office had been compressed so a filing cabinet could be moved in for more reference materials. Needless to say this didn't sit well, especially since I hadn't been told, much less asked. Over the years my office was reduced in size to a 6x7 patch of floor. I think the only reason that hasn't been intruded on is once you've rammed a desk and bookshelf against the wall there really isn't anything else you can do to compress it.
A few weeks ago a plan to move the reference library to a new location, a plan that has been in the works for years, finally came to fruition. Miracle of miracles, the books and shelves began to move. At last, the threat of having my office undergo a random change while my back is turned seemed to be a thing of the past.
Until today: I found out the "extra space" outside my 6x7 patch of floor is going to be used for storage. So I trade an ever-expanding reference library for an ever-expanding storage space. I'm no less likely to have people come in my "office" than I was before. If anything I expect more traffic, despite the assurances of everyone involved in this new plan.
I can't even watch the movie Office Space anymore. The scenes where Milton is relocated over and over don't even get a chuckle out of me these days. And since the architects of this plan met my objections with an offer to put up cubicle partitions to separate me from the storage area, most of the other scenes in that movie are equally hard to watch. So far about the only scene I have left is the one where the printer is sacrificed in the field. Thank goodness HP got rid of the "PC Load Letter" message on their printers. I'd be tempted.
I offered to change my duty station to the remote worksite. I was refused. I offered to move into some of our lab space. I was also refused. I can already feel the walls closing in. In the previous post today I wrote that I tend to become more and more asocial as I get more and more depressed. Right now moving into a closet is sounding like the best option of all. I'm sure I'll be refused.
The irony is no other office in the company is treated this way. I asked if anyone else had made this observation. Apparently not. Even pointing this out to those involved hasn't changed things. The response: "It's not like you're using the space." No, and I'm not likely to. I don't much go in for extravagant office decorations. A chair, a desk, power, and network are about all I need. But I do long for some control over my work environment. I hope that's not too much to ask for. Everyone else does. They even seem to get it.
Had this come at any other time I might've been receptive. The timing was just terrible. As I'm sure it will be the next time things are changed out from under me with no warning, no asking. Here's hoping I can find a decent closet to move into and that no one objects.
I do not handle changes well. I'm getting better at it, but it's an acquired taste I haven't entirely acquired. I do fine if I know a change is coming, or better yet know what the change is. But when changes come with no warning, changes that directly affect me, they tends to stress me out in ways I'd rather not be stressed.
Over the past few years my office at work has undergone changes, almost none of them for the better. Shortly after starting work my desk was moved into a room that doubled as a reference library. More accurately, the reference library acquired my desk and me with it. It never became an office. Privacy was never guranteed. And having three or four people walk in and launch into loud debates having nothing to do with me became the norm.
I don't always work in my office, thank goodness. I work at a remote worksite from time to time. This does give relief from the working conditions, but it also leaves the door open for unexpected remodeling. One fine day I came in from having been at the remote work site for several solid weeks to find my office had been compressed so a filing cabinet could be moved in for more reference materials. Needless to say this didn't sit well, especially since I hadn't been told, much less asked. Over the years my office was reduced in size to a 6x7 patch of floor. I think the only reason that hasn't been intruded on is once you've rammed a desk and bookshelf against the wall there really isn't anything else you can do to compress it.
A few weeks ago a plan to move the reference library to a new location, a plan that has been in the works for years, finally came to fruition. Miracle of miracles, the books and shelves began to move. At last, the threat of having my office undergo a random change while my back is turned seemed to be a thing of the past.
Until today: I found out the "extra space" outside my 6x7 patch of floor is going to be used for storage. So I trade an ever-expanding reference library for an ever-expanding storage space. I'm no less likely to have people come in my "office" than I was before. If anything I expect more traffic, despite the assurances of everyone involved in this new plan.
I can't even watch the movie Office Space anymore. The scenes where Milton is relocated over and over don't even get a chuckle out of me these days. And since the architects of this plan met my objections with an offer to put up cubicle partitions to separate me from the storage area, most of the other scenes in that movie are equally hard to watch. So far about the only scene I have left is the one where the printer is sacrificed in the field. Thank goodness HP got rid of the "PC Load Letter" message on their printers. I'd be tempted.
I offered to change my duty station to the remote worksite. I was refused. I offered to move into some of our lab space. I was also refused. I can already feel the walls closing in. In the previous post today I wrote that I tend to become more and more asocial as I get more and more depressed. Right now moving into a closet is sounding like the best option of all. I'm sure I'll be refused.
The irony is no other office in the company is treated this way. I asked if anyone else had made this observation. Apparently not. Even pointing this out to those involved hasn't changed things. The response: "It's not like you're using the space." No, and I'm not likely to. I don't much go in for extravagant office decorations. A chair, a desk, power, and network are about all I need. But I do long for some control over my work environment. I hope that's not too much to ask for. Everyone else does. They even seem to get it.
Had this come at any other time I might've been receptive. The timing was just terrible. As I'm sure it will be the next time things are changed out from under me with no warning, no asking. Here's hoping I can find a decent closet to move into and that no one objects.
posted by pencil at 12:04 PM
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