You arrive at your desk and check voicemail as you take off your coat and lock your purse in the desk drawer. There are four messages: two from corporate for your boss, one from HR asking you to pick up forms, and one from the mailroom to tell you about a package. You hear the sly tone in the last message and decide to leave the package for last, though it's probably something the boss is waiting for. You have not had enough coffee to deal with that yet.
You log into the computer and check email, then confirm your boss's appointments. You update her schedule to remove cancellations and prepare a list to review the new meeting requests. It is cold, so you throw on your bulky office sweater. You wait at your desk until she arrives and then go through the list with her quickly. You gauge her mood as you suggest new meeting times. She is stressed, but not angry. You are now hopeful that she will be largely reasonable today. You wait until she is settled at her desk, then go to HR via the cafeteria. As you wait in line at the coffee machine, your boss texts that her computer is acting weird and she needs help NOW and where are you? You decide to go for the dark roast coffee because you will need that today, then head back without going to HR.
You leave the coffee on your desk and go into your boss's office. She is on the phone, but rolls back two inches in her chair so you can get to her computer. You awkwardly lean over her to try to diagnose it, but none of your tricks are working. You mouth the words "I'll call IT" to her as she argues with someone about delivery deadlines, then you go back to your desk to make the call. As you wait for the phone to be answered, you think about who might be on the support line today. You hope for Steve, who's funny and patient, or Becca, who can be brusque but gets problems solved without any fuss. Unfortunately, Ed picks up the phone, and you are extra grateful you went for the dark roast.
Ed condescendingly insists that you tell him all of the measures you've tried so far to fix the problem, because he wants to make you feel inadequate. You take a deep sip of coffee, then put on your "you're smarter than me because I'm a girl, and that makes me impressed" tone because your boss is giving you looks while on her call that everything is awful until her computer is fixed. Ed finally asks you for the wonky computer's IP number so that he can log in remotely and try to fix it. You hang up, scribble on a sticky note "IT fixing computer remotely. Don't touch." and hand it to your boss. You head back toward HR, bringing the coffee with you for support.
The receptionist in HR is new, so it takes a while for her to find the form. You enjoy having the moment to sip your coffee. You also run into a friend from another department when she comes looking for a form, so you take a few minutes to catch up. Once your form is found, you make plans with your friend for a future lunch, then head downstairs to the mailroom. As you round the corner, you steel yourself for the interaction.
When you arrive at the mailroom pickup window, you ring the bell and wait for assistance. It comes in the form of Michael, who could probably ID your chest in a lineup. You ask him for the package and then ask about his weekend because you want to be polite and also because you don't want to end the sentence on the word package. As he grabs a box from the bin behind him, he complains about a neighbor who has dogs that bark. You try to sympathize as your respond to his story, but you are having trouble understanding how his neighbor's dog has in any way impacted him, so you keep saying the wrong thing. As he hands you the form to sign, he tries once more to explain why his neighbor is an asshole. He glances at your face, but he makes sure your breasts feel part of the discussion. He winks as he hands you the package and you make your escape. As you walk away, you're grateful that you're wearing the bulky sweater than hangs over your butt.
You arrive back at your desk and leave the coffee there. You have 1/3 of the cup left, and you need it to last a bit longer. You bring the package to your boss then check if her computer has been revived. She appears to be functional again, so you return to your desk to work. You begin filling out her expense reports and then focus on the handouts to be prepped for the upcoming advisory board meeting. You look out the window and resolve to take a walk during lunch, but you end up eating at your desk because your boss wants you to make new changes to the handouts as a result of her morning call.
Over the next few hours, you edit the documents while coordinating travel for eight out-of-town advisors who will attend the meeting. Several of the advisors seem nice, but two have specific dietary demands that don't seem related to allergies and another is unhappy with all available options. By 4:30 you have booked flights and hotels for everyone and finalized the handouts.
For the next hour, you pretend to work while waiting for your boss to leave. You tell yourself that this is the lunch hour you weren't able to take so that you feel less guilty about using the time to write personal emails and read entertainment gossip on your phone. At 5:20, your boss finally packs up and leaves, but not before requesting that you send emails to all of the attendees with updates to the agenda. You send out the updates, then shut down your computer before you can see any email replies. You take off your bulky office sweater and put it on the back of your chair. You put on your coat and unlock your purse from the drawer. The phone rings and your recognize the number as that of the difficult advisor who will be unhappy with the agenda change. You give the phone the middle finger, then let the call go into voice mail as you leave for home.
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