Cubicle City

I began my internship today. My current schedule follows this cow-town workday that requires me to work from 8-5 as opposed to the 9-5 status quo. We are given an hour lunch but since I hardly take 15 minutes to eat lunch I'd prefer to just sleep in a little longer. I won't complain much more though, honestly I'm thrilled to have this job. At first I didn't believe I would find work this summer, so it's a pleasant surprise. So after rising early enough to wake up the sun, I headed to work downtown, to the city's newest office building.

My mother dropped me off today, following the same route I used to take to high school, a short ride followed by the usual nagging. An eerie and nostalgic experience. I decided not to drive today because I don't yet have my parking permit.

My first task was to find the Human Resources Department, which I did, and once there found five other, interns there awaiting orientation. I did not talk to them until we entered a vacant conference room with the main HR woman. However it was obvious they were interns. In addition to being the youngest, they dress differently; the other guy and I don't were ties just polo shirts tucked in. The four females were probably the nicest dressed in the building, all of the other women who had already been there for, who knows how many geologic epochs looked like bums in their raggedy clothes, worn out shoes and GIANT plastic mugs. The mugs are probably sized to accommodate their bodies, which are so large that they’ve lost the typical dimensions of a human being, and just become roughly spherical. Some of the people I work with fit the modern definition of a planet:

A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is (1) a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is (2) massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has (3) cleared its neighboring region of debris.

I had to slide out of the hallway just to avoid being squashed by one woman who walked by so this even takes care of the last requirement. Of course, this is not true for all, but the vast majority. Mom tells me that the dress code and size of these people is a stereotype of state employees. I see this as a great advantage. Back in the day when I worked at imperfect purchase forgetting to tuck in your shirt after going to the bathroom meant being hassled by one or more superiors; here, no one cares because I still look sharp by comparison. It's the first time I've worked with so many people so much older than me. However I do not feel so disconnected because most of the staff is comprised of scientists, or engineers so we have common interests.

I've been paired, I guess you could say with another, sexy intern named Delilah, she seems very sweet. I don't know much about her other than she chose her major because her guidance counselor said she was "really good at math and science" the rest of her family farms far away in part of the state I'm not familiar with. It takes her about an hour to get to work. Talk about commitment, I can now officially never be late because it would look pathetic; even more so than it would anyway.

Our eyes lit up when Delilah and I saw our offices. Okay, so they aren't technically offices, but they are really nice cubicles and mine is near a large window in front of the building where I can see the State House, D. Tower, and my former high school.