mmm
the building was in disrepair
too large for the slowing chemical behemoth
as entire floors and buildings were abandoned
yet ac and cleaning was still provided
empty cubicles and desks piled in corners
like the death of some swarm of mad scientists
trying to invent post-it note plus
or new adhesives for the automotive industry
a full cafeteria was at the heart of the building complex
that changed hands a few years ago
still an eyesore
but now painted in black and white patterns
hiding the once proud earth tone brick
and small prison-esque windows
inside in the heat of the texas summer
i would wander the abandoned floors
on a walkabout
exercise to space out the day of dull contract work
an afternoon stroll to brew on the fifth floor of G
i began to discover keurig machines all over the place
walking up the stairs
watching everyone so busy
trying to reinvent the most boring products on the planet
mine was fiber optic cable and its myriad of connectors
as unique as dorm building construction on a college campus
in dubai
the scientist of the month photos lined some of the halls
near the cafeteria
i looked around at the huddled tables
for some spark of genius
the guy who invented
mostly i noticed scribes and secretaries like me
ascribed to the cheap lunch and atrium views
the ping pong table in building c was rarely used
a better vanished time
i played
once
the manager who became
other
i think he was pretty good
he one two out of three
we went back to our open plan office space
a pride of tourists visiting this unique approach
already proven to be a failure
but the news had not caught up to the innovation brokers
from asian companies
visiting the texas campus
of a minnesota company
my time proved short
i completed my project early
and was fired for not wanting to edit
three thousand line excel files by hand
*if this were in a database…*
i took a stand
refused
low man on the totem pole
of the dumbest job
i’d ever been asked to do
the work on fiber optics
however
is in my portfolio
here
let me give you a link
3-18-24
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