Directionless Boredom

Directionless boredom – a term I once read to describe the working lives of most middle to upper-middle class corporate employees. This seemed to strike a strong chord in me, ringing a little too close to home.

Here I was having spent the last three days, twenty-two and a half hours, or more specifically, 1,350 excruciatingly long minutes trying to make the clock tick faster… It didn’t work and it never does.

Having been at this job for the last year you would think I would have achieved a lot – that I was productive. The truth is I wasn’t. I was easily expendable, but for that matter so was half my department. For all the endless meetings, the constant arsenal of emails attacking my inbox, and the overly excited “how are ya’s?” of co-workers, not much was actually being achieved. It was all an illusion, an act. Despite every employee’s assertion as to how busy they were, I simply wasn’t buying it.

The truth is, the “I’m so busy” knee-jerk response of corporate employees bears a striking resemblance to the individual who will reply that he is fine, well, good, dandy, or any other synonym proudly portraying his contentment despite the fact that he may be torn up inside. Just as the questioner will be shocked by a rare honest answer, such as “I’m awful,” so will the corporate employee who hears from his co-workers that not only is he not busy, but rather he has all the time in the world.