I Don't Need A Reason To Work!

My phone was ringing incessantly as I decided if I should pick the call. It was from my boss. After few seconds of pondering, I took the call and spoke in a low voice, “Hello”.

“Hello Prasanna, I’ll be at office in few minutes. Meanwhile can you start smoke testing the test environment and send the results in a mail. Do call me if you face any problems. How much time do you need to complete smoke test?”, blurted out my boss almost in a single breath.

I looked at my watch. It was just 11AM and I had sauntered into office 5 minutes back. I needed my vital cup of coffee. 

“Sure Deepa, I can complete it in two hours”, I replied confidently.

As soon as I disconnected the call, I walked over to the pantry to make myself a cup of strong brewing coffee. On the way I met some of my friends and, I had to stop to make some pleasant conversations with them. Our company stressed about the importance of networking and for us networking meant talking about each other’s dress/accessories, the latest movies we watched and sometimes when no one is around in the vicinity, gossiping about who is dating whom in the office.

When I reached my work station, I saw that a good half an hour had passed. I hurriedly logged onto my system and opened our application. 

Instead of waiting for the application to load, I opened my Facebook and blogger account. It was very important to multi-task in our jobs. 

My friend had uploaded some photos of her vacation in Maldives. With slight envious eyes, I skimmed through the images, commenting on how beautiful she looked and how she and her husband made a handsome couple.

Then I checked my blogger account. I had received quite a few comments for my previous post. I started reading them and giving each of them a detailed reply. After all, I couldn’t simply ignore my few limited blog readers. 

When I finished, it was almost 1 and my stomach growled, reminding me that it was lunch hour. 

That’s when I remembered the smoke test that my boss had called about. I quickly did a smoke test for 5 minutes and composed my mail in another 15 minutes, emphasizing the extensive testing that I had completed in the last couple of hours.

I went to lunch with my friends and spent the next hour, having a sumptuous lunch leisurely, gossiping and chattering away with colleagues. After lunch we went for a walk around our campus. We had a sprawling campus with a well maintained garden and a strolling path. We found many of our male colleagues sitting on the benches and ogling the young new lady employees strolling in the garden like us.

When I reached back my desk it was already 3. I quickly sat at my desk and checked my mails. There were quite a few organizational mails that I felt required my undue attention as I sat and read word by word of the mails.

Finally I settled back and decided to write some test scenarios. But suddenly I felt an irrepressible urge to go to the restroom. I locked my system and went to relieve myself. There I met my friend who insisted that I accompany her for coffee. The poor girl had no other company, so I agreed to help her out in the dire situation. After all, I too felt coffee-deprived.

When I returned from my extended coffee break (it was hard to resist the mouth-watering samosas in canteen), it was already 30 minutes past 5. I had half an hour before my cab started from office.

I sat down determinedly to write those damned test scenarios. Few minutes into my work and I was feeling all geared up and in my elements. I saw that my close buddy was messaging me on Facebook.

What? I keep my Facebook open at all times on my laptop, one of my friends may feel the dire need to talk to someone and if I’m not there for them, what kind of a friend I would be?

I talked to her for a few minutes before I realized that it was time for my cab. I quickly sent my status report about the activities that I had performed for the day and I headed towards the exit.

I stretched my arms and legs, I felt so tired working all day long. God, these IT jobs, they can be so strenuous and demanding. But I was a dedicated employee; no reason would be strong enough to keep me away from my work.

P.S: This post is entirely a figment of my imagination. If you are my boss and if you happen to read this, I actually accomplish to finish all my tasks (in between checking FB and blogger)

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda