The most beautifully slack job I ever had was temping at the Harvard Business School during the summer. All the professors were away so they just needed somebody to open their mail, answer the phones and type up an occasional bill for some consulting. They were never in the office. I read all of One Hundred Years of Solitude on that job.
Giles, help! He's going to scold me!
Buffy ,'Never Leave Me'
Natter 36: But We Digress...
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
DavidS - Jul 12, 2005 8:58:03 am PDT #9155 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
flea - Jul 12, 2005 8:59:52 am PDT #9156 of 10001
information libertarian
I read Heart of Darkness, including the introductory essays (famous one by Achebe), in a day while temping at NPR. And when I was done I was booooored.
Cashmere - Jul 12, 2005 9:00:30 am PDT #9157 of 10001
Now tagless for your comfort.
I read all of One Hundred Years of Solitude on that job.
I'm sure it felt like real time, too.
Nutty - Jul 12, 2005 9:01:46 am PDT #9158 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I spent a summer translating a novel from the Spanish, while answering phones for a publicity firm. (I didn't finish in that summer, but got pretty far along.) I didn't have the internet, so it was that or Minesweeper or clipping the NY Times for mentions of our clients (which I also did).
Ginger - Jul 12, 2005 9:01:48 am PDT #9159 of 10001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I really don't know how people managed to look busy before the internet.
Put a piece of paper in the typewriter. Put an open book in the desk drawer. Open drawer slightly and read. Whenever someone gets close, close the drawer and assume a look of deep thought as you stare at the piece of paper.
Young whippersnappers. We didn't need any of these modern conveniences to slack off.
t gestures with cane
§ ita § - Jul 12, 2005 9:02:35 am PDT #9160 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
We didn't need any of these modern conveniences to slack off.
But how did you slack without being bored numb?
Cashmere - Jul 12, 2005 9:03:08 am PDT #9161 of 10001
Now tagless for your comfort.
I worked retail before the internet was invented. So it was dusting shelves. "You got time to lean, you got time to clean" was my boss' motto.
-t - Jul 12, 2005 9:04:16 am PDT #9162 of 10001
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
One summer when I was in college I worked at Parklane Hosiery in the mall. As the only part-timer, I soloed on the Fourth of July. I spent all day reading Kafka. The next time I worked my manager tried to berate me for not keeping busy by saying that her friend in another store had seen me just staring into space at the counter, but I knew she was full of shit because I'd actually been reading, and not trying to hide it at all.
Jars - Jul 12, 2005 9:05:37 am PDT #9163 of 10001
I played volleyball for three hours today, and did sudoku for two. In work. I have the mother of all slack-off jobs. AIFG.
§ ita § - Jul 12, 2005 9:05:41 am PDT #9164 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I can't remember how I used to slack. I know I did. It's personal policy to not regularly engage over 65%, so I have lots of room to improve when the crunch is on.
I drew more, I bet. But that can't have been all.
Whatever it was -- not memorable.