Making It Up As I Go Along #278

MONDAY...
— Work is nice. Claudette, Kiyomi, Michelle and me in AFIS. We eat outside... and go for a walk at break.
— After work, I go to Karl’s and we walk over to our favourite pub for a bit to eat and a drink. I love walking around the city late. We leave the pub near 1:30 and the walk along Bank Street at this time of night is quite nice.
— I now know how far my neighbourhood walks go. I drove the route when I go home tonight... 6.2 km is the basic walk. So when I lengthen it out a bit, it’s up near 7 km.

TUESDAY...
— Work is okay. We get Greek for supper.
— Hour and a half walk tonight... two rabbits on the route. But my head isn’t into the music on the ol’ MP3 tonight. So it’s less enjoyable than normal.

WEDNESDAY...
— Another hour plus walk after work tonight. Four rabbits on the route. And some woman walking her dogs!
— Work is alright. Me and four women in AFIS (Anne-Marie, Kiyomi, Claudette, Michelle). It leaves me having to deal with some questions a guy gets asked when cornered by the ladies. All in good fun.

THURSDAY...
— Chip Wagon for supper... work is fine but I’m tired tonight so it goes pretty long.
— Not lots of energy tonight so I cut the walk to about half of the normal... although I’m still out there for about 40 minutes. And a record... six rabbits. Plus one mouse that ran at me.

FRIDAY...
— Quiet night at work. Just three of us (Claudette, Kiyomi and I) in AFIS.
— No walk tonight. Been a little less energetic over the last two days, so I figure it’s time to take a break. Back at it tomorrow is the plan.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet day. On the phone a bit... watch a movie or two... watch some baseball on TV.


Every Week is Shark Week
Windows are fish bowls. At times, depending the danger level of what your looking at, they’re shark cages. Either way, a window makes a fine observation point.

As I write, I glance out my living room ‘fish bowl’ to see the disgusting neighbour in his leave-nothing-to-the-imagination cut off jeans as he plays handyman in his garage. No finer example of the benefits of winter can be found. I’d love to see this guy in pants and a parka.

But it’s the fish bowl... or shark cage... that is AFIS which is most on my mind today. AFIS is the main room where I work. It’s big enough for eight people and has one whole wall of windows... looking out to the outside world in the vicinity of our building’s main entrance.

Much can be seen from the AFIS window. People come and go throughout the day. You get to see all types of different personalities. Co-workers... or those who work on different floors... they’re all here. And it’s all interesting. Some walk by, look in at you, and smile and wave. There are even perfect strangers who are friendly enough to do this. Then there are others... people I’ve known for years... and they may look in at you while they pass, but they’ll stare a hole through you as if you’re some rare and slightly repulsive species of fish (cause sometimes we AFIS people are looking at the fish tank of the outside world... and sometimes we’re the fish)... too interesting to look away... too disgusting to look at with a smile. Then there are those who vary with each passing. Maybe they’ll look in and smile warmly... maybe they’ll stare coldly... or maybe they’ll pass on by, not wanting to be tempted by viewing what lies within.

There are people of all shapes and sizes. Some walk slowly by. They appear to be unwell... not much longer for this world. A bag gets dragged behind them, dangling only a few inches above the ground. It would be too much effort to shoulder the thing. Others wheel their way past. Maybe on roller blades as they’re heading home for the day... maybe in a chair as they stand out for their physical limitations.

After a while, you get to know who will pass at particular times in the day. Just before 4:00 each afternoon, a woman, in her twenties walks out with her father. She’s pleasant looking enough with a summery hair cut and an air of class. But what most stands out for her is the fact that she has no hands. In fact, most in AFIS simply call her “The girl with no hands.” It’s not said teasingly, or even with pity. It’s just that she doesn’t work in our section and nobody actually knows her name. But I admit, I look at her with a degree of fascination. I wonder about her limitations with no hands. I’d guess she was born that way. So I think about how limited someone would be if they are unable to miss something they never had.

I did once feel bad for this girl. On one of the first occasions that she passed our window, one of my co-workers looked out, saw her deformity, and screamed with the surprise of it all. It made me think of how many stares and uncomfortable glances this girl must have to face.

I’ve looked out at a man who slowly ambles past our windows. He’s often dressed in camouflage and looks straight ahead with an unmoving expression. And I’ve often found myself wondering what my reaction would be if, on one of his ambles to work, I happen to see an assault rifle under his arm.

My main thought hasn’t been to run out and warn my friends and co-workers. It’s been to wait for him to enter the building, and then to take my chair and smash the fish bowl. I’d escape into the deep blue sea of the real world... while he shoots up his inner one.

Of course, this is just imagination. I’ve since actually dealt with this man. He’s a bit unusual but he’s harmless enough. Just a big, quiet guy. I’d guess, not too many weapons ordain his home.

Later in the evening, our fish tank viewing takes on a new light. The passing people drop away from a steady stream to a slight trickle. The human species is only a day time occupant of our office ‘reef’. The evening brings squirrels, sea gulls, ground hogs and the occasional skunk. They mill about, looking for scraps left behind by the daytime inhabitants. Apple cores, nectarine pits, bits of potato chips... whatever may lie around on the ground will be fought over by the animals of the evening.

We observe the territorial battle between sea gulls. Where a young one, still partially grey in colour, is chased off and bullied by an aggressive white one.

The gulls are actually most viewed at supper time, when some of us leave the AFIS world and venture out to eat in their world. At that point, the white gull scampers close, eyes us closely, and occasionally screams for a bit of bread or a french fry. Once he got a piece of pizza crust that was too large. It jutted out of his throat, making the gull’s neck to appear deformed. We all expected the bird to drop dead... but he just gagged the crust down and wobbled after the young grey gull that ventured too close during the swallow.

The squirrels are the most enjoyable watch. We occasionally will leave apple cores and other bits of food along the rim of the garbage container which sits just outside of AFIS. And the squirrels will leap and bound to the garbage, stand on top of the rim as they nibble on the goodies left for them, and then venture down into the containers, looking for any morsels left uneaten through the day.

And that’s our world really. We aren’t so different from that which we see on the Discovery Network. Sometimes we’re observing from the confines of a shark cage... sometimes we venture out charting new waters. And sometimes... more often than we realize... we’re simply fish in a bowl, being watched or ignored by passers by.