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Office plankton
I don’t remember when I first noticed the expression “office plankton. But then I heard it all the time. At work, with buddies. This expression was used to humiliate a person. At least in my environment. To be honest, I didn’t really get into its meaning, just nodded and laughed along with everyone else.
But once I came across an article online about this very office plankton. I was working at a big bank at the time. I read it, and it’s like it’s about me! It was said in the article that this is usually the name given to employees of large corporations. Their labor is almost useless. They just take jobs and get paid. They write some emails. They’re making something up. They move papers from place to place. “And I’m exactly the same office plankton,” I thought at the time.
What to do at work?
I had been working at that bank for a year and a half. And before that – in two other banks. What useful thing was I doing? Nothing! Of the eight hours, probably half a day was spent doing his job duties, and the rest of the time he just went back and forth. Drinking tea. I went out for a smoke. Sitting on the Internet. We scratched our tongues with our colleagues.
What does half a day mean for job duties? It’s reading emails from an executive. Making nonsensical reports. And yes, of course, moving papers from one office to another. From one closet to another. You know what the best part is? When I took another file folder and carried it to the closet, I tried to make this action incredibly important and most importantly, so that the manager saw. I remember walking past him, breathing faster on purpose, so that I could see how hard I was working.
And so it is every working day
The last hour lasted the longest. It stretched like rubber. Every 10 minutes you look at the clock – when will it be 5:30 p.m. and you can press the “End of job” button?
I estimate that 80% of the employees in our branch were doing the same thing. As soon as the clock showed the end of the day, the bank was empty in five minutes. At 5:35 p.m., only the manager, the janitor, and the security guard were still there.
Now that I think back, it’s even funny. It seems that the janitor Agniya Mikhailovna was the most helpful person in this bank. She really did everything thoroughly. I noticed that even if I had a couple of papers lying around in my trash, she would still change the bag.
Why?
That was ten years ago. A lot has changed in my life. But the painful sensation of my uselessness plagued me for a long time. Changed jobs twice – same thing. I never did anything particularly important. That which is really necessary for people, for society.
In the end, a few years ago, I gave up on everything. With that money, which allowed me to go to Turkey or Egypt a couple of times a year. Change phones all the time. Buying stuff. You know what my hobby was? I used to collect expensive ties. I remember I could stand in a store for an hour choosing a tie. I accumulated about twenty of them. But I couldn’t go on living like that – I quit.
The end of the office plankton
And here I am thinking, what an amazing thing this coronavirus is! After all, it hits the very nest of the “office plankton.” I read the news feed. Pervasive downsizing. Only those industries that are vital remain. And everything else is rolled up. I recently came across a report that 54 million people in America have already applied for unemployment benefits.
But I get the feeling that many people are still waiting for the epidemic to end and for them to heal as before. Back to the offices again. To computers. For the papers. Someone has to move them from place to place!
I have to be honest, with all my sympathy for the victims of the virus, I’m happy with what’s going on. I guess you could call me an idiot. But no one can prove to me that man was born to move papers. No end of shopping and flying thousands of miles to eat good food and swim in salt water. No one can prove it to me!
To be human.
I think man was born to take care of those around him. To benefit the community. Making others happy. And that is why to be called human. That’s what the coronavirus is trying to reveal to us. We’re all in the same boat. They just forgot about it. The level of our indifference to one another, our alienation, our hatred, is staggering. In my opinion, it’s time to become human in our relationships. Grow up. Before this pandemic, society was immature. It was like we were playing with toys. And now we really need to be together, to be responsible for each other. Otherwise you can’t survive. This is such a serious test. Are we humans or what?!
…Speaking of ties. For five years I had them in a bag in a crumpled state. One last reminder from a past life. A year ago I threw a bag in the trash. I left one tie that I recently got married in.
