Why I’m slowly creeping closer to the EDGE of SANITY….

Unnecessarily Long and Pointless Meetings where little, if anything, is accomplished. I attend at least one of these per week. It will drag on for 2-3 hours. My colleagues (and sometimes myself) will argue endlessly about insignificant crap – which is why the meetings take so long.

Despite wasting 2-3 hours of everyone’s time nothing substantial is EVER accomplished. A meeting chair will be chosen, however, this person will do nothing to keep us on time or to regulate the length of comments, as this would be considered rude. If a productive discussion does happen to occur or a decision as to a way to proceed reached – everyone will promptly forget the entire thing happened immediately upon leaving the room.

No matter how pointless and ridiculous the meeting, we will always cheerily thank each other for coming, and schedule ANOTHER follow-up meeting. Sometimes we’re asked to give feedback as to the effectiveness and content of meetings. When the nature of anyone’s (my) truthful comments on the meetings are preceived as anything other than ringing, positive endorsements, that person (me) is considered rude.

Particularly Intrusive Violations of my Personal Space (PIVPS). I’m quite accustomed at this point to small or smoothly executed violations of my personal space and they don’t really bother me. Like the getting sat on by large women on the taxi – I mean there’s just no where else for that gigantic booty to go, some of it is going to have to come into my “area”.

Here is an example of a PIVPS; I am walking in the crowded mall. A person is approaching from the opposite direction – very slowly – and without question SEES ME walking, yet will not alter their path even an inch so that I can walk by, causing me to stop walking almost completely to avoid a collision.

Today I went to The Post Office to mail a wedding to gift to a friend getting married in a few weeks. The South African post office does not sell boxes. Well actually that’s a lie, they do sell one that’s the size and shape of a shoe box, which is convienient if you’re mailing a pair of shoes. I wasn’t.

SO the postman sends me down to the “office supply” store called CNA – I still have no idea what the letters stand for – where I was able to procure a box from their trash pile, but it was still a tad too big. Had CNA sold styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap I would have purchased some to fill the excess space. Nor does The Post Office sell these items, as I learned after walking the length of the mall to return there from my box-hunting trip. When I got back to the Post Office I had the following conversation with the PostGirl on duty part of which proceeded as follows:

Me: So you don’t sell styrofoam peanuts, paper-crinklies or bubble wrap that I can stuff in this box?

Postgirl: (peering into my large, half-empty box and holding up bubble wrap lined ENVELOPE) No, but we sell these.

Me: No thanks, I just walked all the way down to CNA to find this BOX.

Postgirl: You could go downstairs to Pick and Pay and see if they have any boxes.

Me: No I’d rather just mail this now, I don’t have alot of time. Do you maybe have any old newspapers lying around back there?

Postgirl: (dull, blank stare).

Me: Any old papers or anything in the recycling bin? Just something I can stuff in this box to fill up the empty space.

Postgirl: (dull, blank stare continues for a few more seconds)…No, I don’t think so.

Me: Ok, nevermind. I’ll just send it like this.

Postgirl: You can go to CNA and see if they sell any of that brown paper to cover the box with.

Me: Do I need to cover the box to send it?

Postgirl: Or you could try Pick and Pay.

Me: Can I send the box without wrapping it in paper? Is it required that the box be wrapped?

Postgirl: (dull, blank stare)

Me: Do I HAVE to WRAP the BOX to SEND it???

Postgirl: No, you don’t.

Me: Ok. (I start taping up the box with tape that I actually had the presence of mind to buy at CNA. Postgirl helped me, which was nice).

Postgirl: What city?

Me: Harrisburg.

Postgirl: How do you spell it?

Me: H-A-R-R-I-S-B-U-R-G

Postgirl: Sorry, I didn’t get it, could you start again…

Me: H—-A—-R—-R—I—S—

Postgirl: Harris?

Me: No, -Burg, Harris-BURG.

Postgirl: Have you written the address on the box?

Me: No, can I borrow your marker.

Postgirl then searched the entire post office for a marker, this took a full 2-3 minutes, thankfully the Post Office is on the small side. By this time quite a long line had formed behind me (there were only a total of 2 windows open) and I could feel the eyes of all the people in line staring at my back thinking, “why is this idiot taking so long?” I know, seriously, what was I thinking trying to mail a PACKAGE at the POST OFFICE.