Thursday, December 04, 2008

Left To Our Own Devices

My frame of reference is skewed, possibly, but my point of view has been mostly the same for more years than I care to mention.
Once upon a time, I didn't work in I.T.
I was in marketing. I did sales. I had a design job. I worked at a radio station. I sold cookies at the mall.
But those jobs were so long ago I honestly can't imagine having worked them.
I.T. is different.
Not really "bad" different, but I get the impression (again, fully based on my perspective) that working around I.T. people is different than working around regular people (or as we call them "the Normals").
From a distance, our I.T. infested cubicle farm looks much like the accounting cubicle farm down at the other end of our shared workspace.
Closer comparison reveals subtle differences.
On the I.T. side, the subjects on the wall calendars are mostly science fiction related. The accounting people tend to go with motivational landscapes and cars.
There are kitten calendars on both sides, but you can almost taste the irony in a kitten calendar in an I.T. worker's cubicle.
I'd like to know what the power consumption is across the floor.
The accounting people have a computer and generally a couple of monitors per cubicle.
On the I.T. side, everyone seems to have between two and three computers and between four and six monitors, as well as a constantly-charging array of MP3 players and communication devices.
Every week someone gets a new phone and hours are spent going over the features and comparing it to the previous week's phone.
And there are toys.
The accounting people have corporate-branded stress balls.
The I.T. area is covered in action figures and model starships.
I can't remember the last time a nerf projectile's proximity to my face even made me flinch, no matter how fast it had been modified to travel.
In-cubicle coffee makers are forbidden due to the fire codes. I'm certain there are none on the accounting side of the floor.
I've seen no fewer than three coffee makers on the I.T. side carefully mounted into a modified bottom desk drawer with a lock on it.
Eventually that may kill us all, but I think our caffeinated edge will carry us out the building faster than those poor accounting bastards.
Is this normal?
Are all offices like this?
Are the accounting people hiding all the coolness somehow?
How do things work in your office?

1 comment:

Joe said...

My office has a fridge, a coffee maker, and a microwave. In addition to my computer are scanners, printers, my stereo, etc. I have recently added a small flatscreen with cable access so I can watch CNN, ESPN or anything else I damn well please whenever I please.

It has a door with a narrow window which I've covered to conceal me from prying eyes. There's also ample room for a folding military cot if I choose to go by a surplus store.

If I decide to purchase a chemical toilet, I could conceivably hole up there indefinitely ...

Texas ... your tax dollars at work!