The picture I included above is Milton from Office Space - a movie about the joyless experience of working in a cube farm.
Milton ends up moved around until his office is put in a basement. He gets laid off, no one tells him, and he keeps coming in, and no one stops him from doing his job.
After he misses a few paychecks he asks, and he is told he was laid off months ago.
Hilarity ensues.
He had a red stapler.
And maybe some accelerant.
Seems im sitting in a walkway in one of the 'after thought' desks
Been there. Although I think mine was done out of spite. Pretty sure I've told that story already.
Funny thing some 20 years ago i started out at a bench against a wall. No computer, no phone. They were not ready for me. "umm i think there is a chair over there " After a day or so i got my bearings enough to find me a cube, where the surplus computers were stored, found some wire and a switch..
Its like my career here is coming full circle as i'm about ready to leave.
"i hit the wrong button and it didnt do what i wanted, please log this as a bug with the vendor"
Um.. how about no?
So we have a agency that is working with the same vendor we use for the system i support. They tried to get on ours, for free, but we were not 'fed-ramp' and would not do a few other things that would have complicated our lives, when our security level is fine. So they had to buy their own. ( somewhere around 700k i think
Found out today that request from the vendor to Microsoft for moving this install to fed-ramp is denied. Funny stuff there.
Ok i downloaded it, but got lesbian office porn instead. Ok just kidding. Its a movie right, and not a TV show? I did download a movie.. If that is it, ill try to watch it this weekend.
Wed Jul 07 2021 08:25:59 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsYour life literally is Office Space. I can't believe you've never seen it.
It is a movie. It may feel dated. You'll still enjoy it, I think.
Either that, or it will trigger PTSD symptoms.
Thu Jul 08 2021 17:13:09 EDT from Nurb432Ok i downloaded it, but got lesbian office porn instead. Ok just kidding. Its a movie right, and not a TV show? I did download a movie.. If that is it, ill try to watch it this weekend.
Wed Jul 07 2021 08:25:59 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsYour life literally is Office Space. I can't believe you've never seen it.
So i'm about 20 mins in.. does it get better?
One interesting note, the 'company' sign on the wall during the pep talk speech at ~ 17 minutes. That is on the wall in my office. It appeared while we were all at home. Seemed odd to have that on the wall ( since we are not a company ) but i guess know i get the reference.
I suppose more people would get that reference than me adding "33" to our clock in the break room.
So, tell me - did you think it got better?
I don't know that it was a good movie, overall - I just know that it was iconic and accurate of this era of corporate office work.
Sat Jul 10 2021 14:27:55 EDT from Nurb432So i'm about 20 mins in.. does it get better?
One interesting note, the 'company' sign on the wall during the pep talk speech at ~ 17 minutes. That is on the wall in my office. It appeared while we were all at home. Seemed odd to have that on the wall ( since we are not a company ) but i guess know i get the reference.
I suppose more people would get that reference than me adding "33" to our clock in the break room.
Not really.
I see the point everyone was trying to make about parts of it, but ya, it was not all that great of a movie.
Tue Jul 13 2021 03:41:33 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsSo, tell me - did you think it got better?
I don't know that it was a good movie, overall - I just know that it was iconic and accurate of this era of corporate office work.
I'd probably agree. I never revisited it - but there are things that are just so spot-on about that point in my career, in cube-farms in the late 90s/early 2000s, the co-workers, the strip-mall chain-restaurant lunches with the hot college girl waitresses wearing flair. It just got a LOT of it right. The weird old balding guy with the coke-bottle glasses that no one thinks actually does anything. The douchebag executive/manager. The experience was fairly accurate and universal.
Tue Jul 13 2021 17:30:16 EDT from Nurb432Not really.
I see the point everyone was trying to make about parts of it, but ya, it was not all that great of a movie.
Tue Jul 13 2021 03:41:33 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsSo, tell me - did you think it got better?
I don't know that it was a good movie, overall - I just know that it was iconic and accurate of this era of corporate office work.
I wouldn't say it was 'bad' just not 'good'. But yes, i can see how people label it as a 'must watch' and the many correlations to ( even if a little a bit dated ) office life. ( like ties, i have not worn a tie in nearly 30 years )
I guess i should print out a red stapler?
I never wore a tie. The East Coast focus on formal dress for IT workers - I never understood. Khakis and a polo shirt were always fine in California. Khaki/Cargo shorts in summer. When I got out to Ohio, they were about 20 years behind this trend. For the most part I acquiesced. At this point in my life, I'd resist. "Did you hire me for my skills, or my fashion sense?"
Wed Jul 14 2021 19:14:59 EDT from Nurb432I wouldn't say it was 'bad' just not 'good'. But yes, i can see how people label it as a 'must watch' and the many correlations to ( even if a little a bit dated ) office life. ( like ties, i have not worn a tie in nearly 30 years )
I guess i should print out a red stapler?
When i first started work in the corporate world in mid 80s, you could not leave your cube without your jacket ( even tho i was 'assigned' to a manufacturing complex.. ). 3 Piece suits were 'suggested' but not 'mandated'. Your color choices were mandated however. Our corporate sales guys, it was down being told which stock numbers of clothing they could order and wear, out of the 'blessed' catalog. Even the cuff links.. My first review was eye opening " you are doing great, bla bla bla, glad to have you here, we made a good decision to pull some strings and get you assigned back here instead of a 'corporate' site. ( long story. .interview for job, normally you dont go to that site ) but, we were wondering about the girl you have been seeing and we understand you are not married" "huh, what.. the..hell.. " Turns out it was my next door neighbor and we were hanging out as friends. We were the same age, came from the same area of the state. Both transplants. She was a school teacher. They were 'watching' all of us, constantly. And Assumed.. I also got slammed for the car i drove. "really should consider a 4 door, brown sedan, and get marred to your friend, for the image." I had actually gone out and bought a car to match the place i was working ( GM assignment ) and left my mustang at my parents . Union shops were rough back then, so i planned ahead. But i guess an IrocZ was not the 'correct' choice for the company image. ( that review factored heavily into my decision to leave about a year later. )
Now, some 35 years later:
So, boss came in today. ( been off 2 weeks. was on vacation when we all started going back in ). I complained about my new seating, being IN the walkway and everyone walking up right to me to get around my spot. He found me a new place. Still not great, considering the open office situation, but a step up from what i had before, as now i have a actual cube wall ( 1/2 height still of course ) between me and the next guy. Not the simple Plexiglas divider you get being in a pod of 6. Its also a 'overflow desk' that was tacked on to a supervisor area.. thus the extra wall.
Oh and someone bitched about my desk fan. F-em. It stays.
Ok i downloaded it, but got lesbian office porn instead. Ok just kidding. Its a movie right, and not a TV show? I did download a movie.. If that is it, ill try to watch it this weekend.
It wasn't "just" a movie. It was originally a series of short cartoons by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, etc.) that was later adapted into a full length movie.
As a whole, the movie was just ok. It's very quotable, though, and anyone who works in a white-collar space will hear quotes from the movie tossed about.
When i first started work in the corporate world in mid 80s, you could not leave your cube without your jacket
Ah yes, the old "IBM culture" that became pervasive in Corporate America. Never leave your desk without your jacket on. Cashing your paycheck at a bar is grounds for dismissal. That sort of thing.
I had to deal with that at my first job. It was miserable. I also had to cut my hair, which was equally as miserable. And being an entry-level IT worker, I often had to crawl under desks to re-cable computers while wearing "good" clothes, which was even more miserable.
When I interviewed for my current job (20 years ago!) the CEO happened to walk by and he blurted out "we don't allow ties here" I knew I was in the right place.