Happy Path

Here's What I Don't Want to Do

Monday, November 23: day one of my banking career. Heading to work, I felt very neutral, with an edge of anger since most of the commute was so familiar. Instead of getting off the subway at Line Two's Eastern terminus and boarding the aging, decrepit SRT, I got on a westbound bus. A handful of stops later, I was at the major intersection of my life. More specifically, Birchmount and Eglinton in Scarborough, Ontario. I couldn't believe I'd lived and worked in the Greater Toronto Area for sixteen years and had only briefly worked in the downtown core! Fate had banished me to the outskirts of the city time and again. At least going against the crush of people headed downtown made my commute easier.

I checked in at security and waited for Charles. My experience was much like my interview. I saw lots of what I'd call office-type workers filing in the doors. I looked like one of the bunch, dressed in slacks and starting my work day.

Charles exploded through the double doors and into the security holding area. There isn't much of what I'd call a "lobby" at the south entrance. "Hello! Good morning!"

"Hi. Good morning." I put my phone away and Charles checked me in at the security desk. I hooked my temporary pass on my business casual belt loop and followed him through the pass protected doors. Above the office entrance was a sign that read INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & SOLUTIONS. I thought What the hell am I doing here?

Charles took me on a whirlwind tour to meet the staff and see the workspaces. "There are two labs," he was saying as we wove our way through cubicle city. "One is for IST and one is for QAT. This is Alexi," he introduced me to a team member he had mentioned during one of our phone chats the week before. Alexi gave a little bow and a quiet hello. Was he the Russian on the team? We kept moving. "This is the IST lab." As he pointed out various parts of the room and introduced me to a few more team members, I took in the rows of ABM machines and a couple of tables piled with computers and personal effects. We left the lab.

More cubicle maze navigation led us to a desk. "This is Hugh. He does QAT. Hugh, this is Molly. She's the new Julie. And she needs her desk."

"Oh. I've been using it since Julie's away and my desk is on the other side of the office. I just wanted something near the lab. Hi, Molly." Hugh gathered his things.

"Hi." The desk was near a main entrance, which was a relief. Otherwise, I'm not confident I could have found it again in the first week. However, it was also near a main entrance. There was a door behind me that opened and closed, with an electronic alert sound and a loud bang, almost constantly. The desk was also on the other side of the wall from a kitchenette.

"Okay. So you can set your stuff down and get settled and Felix will come by with a laptop." With that, Charles turned on his heel left me standing in the cubicle. I looked at the space. It consisted of an L-shaped desk and two soft walls to my left and straight ahead. The wall to my right was the back of the kitchenette. My back was to the open side of the u-shaped space. The hallway behind me was well-traveled, but I seldom saw who was doing the traveling. I noticed later that some people had mounted mirrors above their computers so they could see who was entering their cubicle or passing by without turning around. I never cared enough to do that. I also found it mildly entertaining to discover the myriad ways people would attempt to get my attention when they wanted to talk to me. I saw Felix coming.