SquarePeg Books

Because even the calendar says WTF after Tuesday.

This is going to be a bit of a random spot. Like the previous Wednesdays of this month, I’m trying out recurring themes on Wednesdays to see what happens. I’m kinda hoping it will keep me focused, but we’ll find out.

So let’s dive in on some random subject for the 5th Wednesday of the month.

My prize:

I work as an office assistant/scheduler/receptionist. A great deal of what I do is 4-D Tetris: we have 140ish stude nts, 11 instructors, 6 days a week, 4 studio rooms.

And sometimes there are cage match fights for prime spots in the schedule by certain personalities. There are complaints b/c person A is a prima donna, or person B added dates to communications that simply weren’t there, person C feels they are not getting the service they deserve because they are special, and so on.

Very typical Customer Service issues, but things can be stressful at times. 4-D Tetris can be a grueling sport. If you don’t believe me, ask any scheduler. They’ve got stories.

I try to resort to whimsy to bring a smile to my face.

Music schools use pencils. I have a lot of pencils. I also mostly have the discards because the pencil gets too short for easy use–usually around the 4-5 inch mark.

I also take a lot of notes–phone calls, text messages, emails, strategizing how I can move students around to accommodate instructor and client needs at the same time, dates for potential make-ups to offer students, etc.

I wonder how short I can take this pencil and still use it?

The pencil gets shorter. And shorter. Every sharpening makes it more challenging to use.

People start noticing. Students ask why I have such a tiny pencil.

Oh, I just want to see how short I can get it, but still use.

Kids are delighted that there is one adult out there who still does stuff like this. Adults are vaguely amused, but overall not impressed.

I’m impressed with myself, though. The only reason why it isn’t any smaller is because the pencil sharpener wouldn’t take it any smaller without eating my fingers.