i have a routine during the weekdays (more or less): i get up, make the bed, feed the cats, take a shower, check the weather, get dressed, ride the metro, get to work, sign in, turn on my computer, fill my nalgene (or mug) with water, sit down and read the news, donrockwell, dcist, etc. only after i complete this routine, am i able to settle down into my work.

i would suspect that people who work in my building also have a routine, perhaps as similar (and dull) as the one i have described above.

in the morning, as soon as i step onto metro ground, i'll admit, i'm cranky. it's like 7am (more or less), i'm trying to get to work with thousands of other people and i just want to get there. a successful morning is judged by being able to get to the metro, not wait long for a train that isn't jammed up, read my book (currently alias grace by m.atwood), switch trains without having to wait long, and not having the metal detector go off when i walk through it once i get to work. and, i should add, it's most successful when i don't have to talk to anyone during the course of the morning, at least not until i've had my green tea.

i'd say that my success rate for the past month has been at a low - possibly 30%.

so what's been gooing up my morning routine? here's a few things that really irk me in the morning:

1. waiting for a train, only to discover it's already completely packed like sardines and one more body just won't fit, and then having to wait for the next one (or the one after that, or the one after that)



2. people on the train who lean on the vertical pole that i'd like to use to hold onto (i can't reach the top bar that runs along the length of the train), and then they look at me like i'm a jerk when i try to hold onto the bar anyway and my fist is essentially punching them in the back.



3. when i run into someone i know on the train. not to be rude but seriously. i just woke up less than an hour ago, and i don't want to talk to you about work or anything else, plus i'm trying to read my book.



4. when i'm switching trains and i see that the red line train is already on the platform and i'm sprinting as if i was in the olympics reaching for the gold, yet when i get to the door of the train (which is usually the first door in the first car, right next to the train operator) and the train conductor closes the door in my face (IN MY FACE!), before i can make it onto the train, and then gives me a dirty look, and pulls away.



5. getting stuck on the right side of the escalator (which is normally reserved for those standing, with large suitcases, or physical disabilities which prevents them from walking on the left side)



6. when my smartrip card doesn't want to function properly through the faregates and then i have to back up and budge in front of a million other people trying to get through at an adjacent gate



7. when people directly in front of me aren't courteous enough to hold the door open for me and let the door slam in my face (i've written about this before and this really, really bothers me)



8. when employees entering my building cannot work the id scanner correctly. UGH! we have to hold our ids up to this scanner thing, and when it recognizes it's legit, the light turns green and you can walk through. sometimes it doesn't turn green, but you HAVE to move forward as if it already turned green. this prompts the scanner that someone is standing there and it WILL turn green, giving you the thumbs up to walk through. i don't know how many times i've seen people standing there, waiving their id badges across this scanner thing, holding up the line to get in for several minutes. how long have you been working here for?

there is one last thing that disrupts my morning routine that i just can't seem to understand. and it happened to me this morning which really just irritated me. and the thing about it that i cannot understand, is that people who work in my building do this EVERY SINGLE DAY, so there is no excuse (unless you are a new employee or just visiting, but then you wouldn't be walking in through the same doors as i would be): passing their belongings through an xray machine and walking through a metal detector (just like in the airport).

yet, as i got to work this morning, i came across a gentleman who did not appear to be a newbie (i saw his badge when he scanned it in and it was old and faded) yet did not have this routine down.

as soon as i approach my building's doors, i already have my id badge in hand, my book in the other, and as i waive my badge over the scanner and walk through, i routinely put my badge, book, and bag on the xray conveyor belt, walk through the metal detector with my arms across my chest (so my watch doesn't set the metal detectors off) pick up my stuff off the belt, and i'm off to my office.

the man this morning must have been hit over the head repeatedly, resulting in brain damage which prevented him from remembering that this is routine, that this is something we do every day when coming into work. (you are a robot.)

seriously. he had all sorts of things in his pockets. he had his cell phone, his wallet, his keys, some paper clips, chewing gum with the metal foil wrapper, other junk, and like wads of change. dude! it's like 7:30am! what are you doing with all that crap in your pocket??? and, to make it worse, it was as if he didn't realize he had so much stuff in his pocket. he was acting like, 'oh my! what's this? ah, gum? i'll have to save this nugget for later in the day when my breath reeks of the garlic my wife packed in my lunch today! oh, change? how fantastic! now i can visit the 3rd floor pantry and purchase some peanut butter cheese crackers and party mix for my afternoon snack!'

his whole discovery.com demeanor really irritated me (it's obvious, no?), yet i had to grin and bear it because he beat me to the door by a few seconds.

maybe i'm being harsh, maybe i'm being a bit mean. but i don't have the luxury of having my dream job, and i put up with what i do so i can live the life i want to. the earlier i get to work and sign in, the earlier i can leave. and when i have all these general jerks around dilly dallying, disrupting my morning routine, well, in all truthfulness, i'm going to be passive-aggressive about it and blog about it here.

:)

Labels: work