IT'S FINALLY SUMMER33

IN THE OFFICE!
BY KASSIA MILLER
- - - -
Oh man, there's nothing like summer in the office! When the air conditioner buzzes
on and frigid air chills me to my core, I knowit's somewhere between 70 and 109 o
utside. I don't know for sure because I only am outside for two fifteen-minute int
ervals per day, once early in the morning and once after the sun goes down, but
man, it sure looks hot out there!
And when it's summer in the office, I get to break out all my favorite summer clot
hes: my lighter-weight wool pants, conservative button-up shirts with cap sleeve
s instead of long sleeves, and my sandals. Well, they are technically the same s
ensible pumps I wear from September through May, but during the summer months, I
call them my sandals and BOY does it feel good.
But my summer wardrobe staple has to be my black cardigan. I think every girl ca
n agree: nothing says summer in the office like a black cardigan. When I feel my
black cardigan blowing behind me as I race from meeting to meeting, up and down
the same bland halls that I have been trudging down for the past five years, I
feel like a Native American princess! (I say that because Native Americans were
downtrodden people and I feel like I have a lot in common with your Pocahontases
of the world, emotionally speaking.)
The best part about summer in the office is the summer schedule! I work just as
much as I do in the fall and winter, but it feels different. Cause everyone's a-bu
zz about their weekend plans: coming in to work on Saturday, firing up the old d
esktop, and ordering Thai food to their desk.
Oh and in the summer, there are so many free summer concerts and movies in the p
ark to miss! It's summertime, baby!!
Everyone has their own favorite activities, but my girlfriends and I like to spe
nd the summer months just lounging individually in our windowless cubicles, read
ing whatever pertains to the work we do, and staying at our desks until the sun
goes down. It's crazy!
OH! And don't forget about the picnics! Please, don't forget about the picnics. I al
most did once. I was like, Picnic what is that, when everyone brings a dish to a p
arty? And my therapist was like No, that's a potluck. A picnic is eating in a park o
n a blanket. And then she warned me that I was under too much stress and likely t
o have some kind of breakdown because I had lost word retrieval for anything not
pertaining to my soulless corporate job. So please! Don't forget about the picnic
s, people! It's a really bad sign if you do!
Anyway, I'm just really glad it's finally summertime in the office. Because I'm defini
tely ready for some fun in the sun! (The Sun is the name of the conference room on
the east side of the office. It gets a lot of light, which makes it hard to do
audio-visual presentations or to even read your laptop, so we have to keep the l
ight-canceling blinds all the way closed.)