Acting Up

I’m home from a weekend of children’s theatre. This is my ninth year with the group and it made me think of all the people who have been involved at one time or another. Oddly enough there are still some kids in the group who were in it when I was performing on stage at the age of fourteen. Others have long moved on, but you usually see them coming back to watch the latest show. It’s also great to see some of the young ones in the orchestra pit, because doing that was my start into the music side of things. The two young girls, Leah and Meg even bought us some Cold Rock gift vouchers. Can’t argue with that!

I’ve barely been home all weekend so things are a shambles here. Clothes and used bowls of food were everywhere this morning, very much unlike me. I did fix up the bad stuff this morning, but my floor is still a little messy. As so perfectly put in Seinfeld, I need that downtime on a Sunday night to get my things organised for the week. A bit of calm before the storm again.

As the school certificate nears, the three boys I tutor in maths are having lessons every week and I’m quickly running out of time. At work I’m supposed to be starting on helping out with the insurance processing team tomorrow after “showing an interest”. I don’t know how long I’ll be doing that for and when if I’ll be back with the usual maintenance group, but I know that I am still not getting a real desk with a phone and a bin and a set of drawers. Because they are out of room, they’ve put us new people in “the sweatshop” (so called because the air conditioning doesn’t work).

One concern is that I’ll be sitting next to the loud talker. You know the type. While everyone else is pretty quiet, this woman tries to maintain a conversation all day, usually about her daughter or one of her sisters, or one of her many holidays or jobs in the past. Already in the 7 working days we’re beginning to hear stories for the second time. I’m quite the opposite, I’d prefer to sit in piece and quiet so I can think about my own things and focus on getting the work right.

I started to think about a strategy I might take if she tries to maintain a conversation with me. I’m thinking I’ll stick to one word answers and avoid eye contact. I have nothing against the woman at all, but there’s a time for conversation and there’s a time to enjoy silence.