A Thousand Words/Misunderstandings

i like working in a cubicle. i pretend it’s a fort and on rainy days i’ll leave my umbrella to dry in the cubicle’s entry way to prevent invaders from walking in uninvited (or coworkers from seeing me web surf). granted the walls are low and it’s not as private as an office but still it’s a person’s space.

for months i left my cubicle bare of personal effects then i noticed that nearly all my coworkers decorated with pictures of their spouses and offspring. so i decided to put up pictures too. one is of jocelyn taken at disneyland. she’s a bit of a mess and doesn’t look happy at all. she insists she was imitating beast but we all know it was probably because she was hungry. i keep it at work because the face she makes is how i feel at work sometimes. another is her school picture. both are posted on my cubicle wall next to a card with a cat on it and a picture of me right before the giant’s world series parade.

i didn’t think it be much of a problem until today.

we have an IT tech on site this week who’s been upgrading our workstations. he points to jocelyn’s school picture and asks what grade she’s in. he thought she was my kid. i say she’s my age which he doesn’t seem to believe. so, i go on to say she teaches science which is why she’s wearing goggles over her glasses. he’s glad i pointed that out because he thought she wore them because she was special. i'm not totally sure why i said it but all of a sudden i blurted out,

“oh, and she’s not my girlfriend either. i know this is SF but i don’t like girls in that way”.

as he laughed at what I said I realized he probably hadn't made that sort of assumption but it was too late.

next time, when the tech comes, i am putting all my pictures away.