The Warehouse Manager's Got My Back

Work continues to be a bit boring. Hugh Marlboro was out of the office all day Monday and Tuesday, and I was left with literally nothing to do. I called him after lunch yesterday and basically said that I'd done all the work I could think of, and would he mind terribly if I left the office to run some errands. Hugh M. didn't mind, especially since the errands at hand involved wading through the bureaucracy of getting my US driver's license recognized by the Mozambican authorities so that I can legally drive the company vehicles and not rely on taxis or coworkers to get a ride home at the end of the day.

Today Hugh M. was back in the office, but he went to some lunch (gasp!!) around noon and left me once again with insufficient work to keep me busy. Maybe I'm just overly productive or something because I'm excited about my new job, but I was finished with all of my tasks for the afternoon in less than an hour. To pass the time, I decided to read a few chapters from "The Essential Drucker". At least if I am reading management-related books I feel less guilty about doing things other than work while I am in the office.

I think my new friend Ahmed down in the warehouse feels sorry for me. Either that or he's trying to manipulate the new girl into really liking him and putting in a spontaneous good word with the boss. Either way, I am grateful.

Every afternoon Ahmed sends up a treat for me, either personally or via one of the warehouse boys. The first day it was a coca-cola. Yesterday I got another coke and an ice cream cone. A guy came up with a little wheeled cart, put a plastic sack over one hand, gripped a stale sugar cone with the covered hand, then painstakingly spooned neapolitan ice cream into the cone. I ignored the pesky voice in my head that wondered how many times that ice cream had melted and been re-frozen over the past week, or how many hours it had sat as a sloshy mush in the pushcart just inviting bacteria to procreate. Nope, I told that voice to go away and enjoyed my strawberry-chocolate-vanilla goodness, if nothing else because it gave me something to do for 25 minutes.

Oh yeah, and the coca-cola that Ahmed sent up yesterday? I tried to open it on the door jamb again, only this time instead of slicing my finger I managed to create an explosion of coke into the hallway that made a giant splat on the newly painted buttercream-yellow wall in front of my office and left sticky pools on the floor. And even with the escape of at least half the soda in the bottle, the stupid cap still didn't come off! I tried to mop up the mess with a kleenex from my desk, but promptly stopped when I realized that I was rubbing off the paint along with the coke on the wall. It was one of those moments where I was laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the situation, wishing I had someone to share it with, but also crossing my fingers that nobody would come down the hall and see the mess and wonder what on earth I was doing in my office. I finally got the coke bottle open by slamming the cap a couple of times against one of the hinges in my desk cabinets.

I think I need to bring a bottle opener to work, as the afternoon coca-cola seems to be a regular occurence when Hugh Marlboro is out of the office.

Today's gifts from Ahmed were a Nokia phone charger and a plate of 4 bananas. Yesterday I casually mentioned that my phone was about to die (I've been borrowing a phone from Jenny ever since mine was stolen from the beauty salon a few months ago; the only problem is that we share a charger between us, so my phone frequently runs out of battery), and today, Ahmed showed up with a charger just as my phone automatically switched off.

The bananas were perfect, too, as I'd already gone through the non-perishable snacks I'd stashed in my drawer, and was unable to eat my cup-of-soups because there are no utensils in the office and I neglected to bring my own from home. I was really hungry this afternoon, and it was as if Ahmed read my mind when he showed up with the fresh fruit.

I went down to the warehouse to thank Ahmed for all the snacks and so forth, and he said, "Of course, you are up there all by yourself all day, and I know you can't plan a lunch hour or take time away from work to eat. I'll always send up something for you - a soda, some fruit, a little snack."

"Thank you so much," I said, and really meant it. So it wasn't just my imagination that nobody ever freaking eats in that office!

Amhed smiled and said, "If you ever want to eat something more, I have a friend who owns a restaurant near here and we can order food to be delivered. Just let me know and I'll give you the number."

Perfect! This doesn't really help me on the days that Hugh Marlboro is in the office, as I am at the mercy of his schedule and must eat quick snacks when I get the chance. But the option of ordering in a meal is great for the days when the boss is out of town. Perhaps next Monday I'll try it out.