The days of yore...

This morning I arrived at the office to find that the network had ceased to function.  We were without internet, phone, printers, fax machines...basically everything that makes an office an office.  Having already completed my work for the rest of the week yesterday, I was already facing a pretty slow day.  Take away email and internet and there's quite literally nothing to do that can be considered "work." 

What was supposed to be fixed in 20 minutes turned into 3 hours.  I wished (aloud) to be able to head over to the music building and practice until the lines were working again.  They didn't take the hint(s)...  I watered the pathetic plant bequeathed to me upon my arrival and which I despise.  It truly is a miserable representation of flora.  Spindly, spiderly legs creep across the top of my work area and yet stay hidden enough that I forget it's thirsty.  Needless to say, I'm losing the war on maintaining it's health.  (Perhaps I should not ever get a dog.)  I also dusted some shelves that really didn't need to be dusted while catching up with my mom on my cell. 

Speaking of cell phones, it truly was comical watching people who obviously cared way more about their jobs than me running around with their personal phones clamped to their ears trying to be productive in spite of the technological blockade.  One of my less-fortunate co-workers was shipped downstairs to a tiny cubicle to answer the phone lest someone of great importance call our office and be shipped straight to voicemail.  Thankfully, I escaped the exile. 

In spite of the panic I witnessed, it actually ended up being a pretty cool morning.  I got caught up on my mom's week.  The students who were here enjoyed a relaxed conversation about topics other than data entry.  I looked at yearbooks of yesteryear with student workers and one of my superiors actually stopped by and pointed out some of her peers from a really old book from the '70s.  For a few minutes, we were all on the same level, in the same predicament, forced to make the best of the situation.  It was nice.  It was peaceful.  It was community.

But, of course, the "problem" was fixed and I returned to my desk at 11 AM.  As I heard a co-worker mutter "Praise the Lord" as she hurried back to her office I couldn't help but think that, just perhaps, the world didn't end and the real blessing was the chance to fellowship together.  Perhaps we need a little more of that and a little less slavery to technology...