Go get 'em, tiger

I've been coming to the conclusion lately that I'm tired of my job. OK, there are a few perks... nice people (some), good benefits (kind of), corner office (formerly a janitor's closet), and lots of filing cabinets. But despite the free Folgers brewed daily in the office lounge (another small, slightly dank space reclaimed from the janitor--they also found room for a mini fridge in there), I'm starting to resent that they pass the hat every three months to collect for the luscious Hinkley Springs water cooler. I suppose that banal gossip around the water cooler is one of those inevitable office cliches, and the merits of Mission Impossible III can only be debated for so long with little blue cup in hand. But here in our office, I do try to take advantage, since I pay for the privilege. But you have to get there early, since the area around the water cooler in the back of that space really only comfortably houses two, three on a good day.

But today on the train on the way to work (only 45 minutes late) I realized that there must be ways to spice up the work day. I was zoning out, trying not to make eye contact, and attempting not to touch too many surfaces, when I started to tune in the conductor. (A local paper's investigative reporting led them to hire a scientist armed with swabs to test all the train's surfaces for nasty germs. As suspected, they found some.) Anyway, I started to notice that the train conductor's announcements seemed outside the usual script--at the next stop, he exhorted us all to "Have a good day. Or at least try to." And as the doors shut at the following stop, we learned that he'd been on the job for 28 years. I suppose that 28 years is enough time to come up with some snappy one-liners, and also enough water under the bridge to feel that it's okay to take a few liberties. So with the train guy's "Go get 'em, tiger" echoing behind me, I got off at my stop and figured I'd best find some way to follow his advice.