Cubeland

As a once-upon-a-time computer geek I am no stranger to the Cube - that open box of an 'office space' in which many of us spend our productive lives. I thought I'd left that behind me though, after first moving up to an office with a door and even a window, and then moving out to a consulting life where I worked from a cozy and well-lit home office.

But, ah, these are strange times of collapsed housing nest-eggs and blunted portfolios. Some of us have been driven back to the corporate world by these uncertain times - and we're damn glad to get the job, let me tell you. No bellyaching here.

Except for that cube-thing.

I feel I have reason to complain. A Cube gives me no privacy for the business calls I have to make, and no protection from all the conversation around me. No quiet for reading or concentration. And my job involves lots of both, plus writing. Much writing on subjects so dry it takes one cup of coffee per hour to stay awake. (Why are important business subjects so often boring to write about?).

Add in the distractions of Cubeland society and sometimes it's just too much ...

But ultimately complaints will get me nowhere. Cubeland is the rule and there are no exceptions to it. Cubelife is work life, and there's no avoiding it.

So I will just have to train myself to view a Cube as a sanctuary from the unemployment line, and a symbol of fruitful labor. Seeing the Cube as half-full, as it were. I can do it. Sure I can, because:

I am Dilbert and Dilbert is Me. All hail the pointy-haired Boss!