An Average Day...

Waking up is always such a drag. The bleary eyes open once… twice… thrice… before finally making some sort of sense of what is in front of them

Then… just doze off again and the process repeats….

Step two is just as bad… it largely involves staring up listlessly while gathering my thoughts. Like when should I get out of bed… where the muscles are that control my limbs… why my head feels like it’s about to explode….

The fan’s wobbling dangerously… one of these days it might just fall right out of its socket and create headlines on some local tabloid, by dicing me up for good…. Yeah right! I wish I was that lucky.

Rolling out finally, when all other options have been exhausted… and there is no way that I can reach office on time if I don’t get a move on.

Standing in the shower… I don’t know for how long. Enjoying the warm water flow across my skin… losing track of time. Should get a clock hung up inside here one of these days….

Breakfast consists of coffee and some biscuits. That’s all that I have the time to enjoy before my eyes spot the slowly ticking timer above the fridge… stuff myself into formal clothes… pick up my bag from where I had chucked it after finishing the work I had brought home, some time late last night… put my shoes on and slam the front door on my way out.

Waiting for the bus…. Other office goers are just as impatient… no one likes being late… no one likes making that extra effort to get up a bit earlier either… an impasse.

The bus rounds the corner… speeding up as it always does before slamming on the brakes and stopping inches from us scared mortals… who hop on.

Today… it just speeds up more until my entire view of the world consists of just the rapidly approaching bus….

Damn… it’s already seven… I need to really hurry to make it on time. So much for the five more minutes of sleep… turned out to be more like half an hour.

Rushing through the motions… exchanging a greeting with Mr. “pink and white striped shirt” at the bus stand…. He gets off one stop before me… always wears the same shirt… and usually travels on the same bus as me….

Probably the closest thing I have to a work friend….

It’s crowded again. As much fun as it would be to complain about the crowd in public conveyances during the office hours… I realize I am a part of that group…. That would be hypocritical to say the least.

A handrail to grab on is comfort enough… forget seats or not having my shoes trod on. One hand stays in the pocket to guard the cell phone and wallet. Pickpockets are a major nuisance…. Not sure why I even carry a cell phone around… the only calls are from my office to burden me with more work.

Mr. “Pink and white striped shirt” nods at me as he gets off the bus… his stop has arrived. I nod back, and move towards the door.

Stupid bus driver… can’t be bothered to park on the side of the road… getting down like this is always an even split between being hit by a speeding four wheeler or a narrow escape.

Not even enough time to scope out if anything is approaching what with all the shoving from other passengers… leap down and hope for the best.

A Red omni is making a beeline for me. It’ll swerve away and curse… that’s what usually happens. Unless the bike on it’s other side prevents it from turning enough… in which case….

Falling asleep in the shower… damn I hadn’t done that in years.

Got to rush… not as late as I had feared… at least not yet.

Leap down from bus… and weave and dodge my way across the street. A feat like that deserves applause but who cares… we are all daredevils out here.

No time to catch my breath. A brisk walk… more of a jog to be honest… and we reach my office building.

Pull out the crumpled tie that stays in my bag all day… except for those eight hours when it hangs around my neck… refusing to strangle me in spite of all my begging.

Into the atrium… the ac is crisp as usual… head for the elevator on the far side and join the throng eager to get to their desks….

The door shuts with me the last one in… I hit the button marked fourteen… and wait.

Floor twelve empties almost the entire multitude…. My boss and I are the last ones in… both having learnt a long time back, about the futility of trying to make small talk to each other.

There is a sudden jerk… before the sense of free falling overcomes all other thoughts. At least I get to watch my boss’s terror on my way down… let’s see how long that takes.

Thank god the elbow slipped in the spilled coffee when it did… otherwise I would really have been late….

Get out of the elevator… just behind my boss… and scurry to my work station… a small cubicle where I have to excommunicate myself from the world… for the remainder of the day.

I made it on time in spite of the many slip ups along the way…. Not that I love my job… because I don’t… but being on time still has some value.

Usually the value is not getting your pay reduced at the end of the month.

Not that I love my work here… because I don’t, but still, I figure it’s the choice between one prison and the next. This at least beats suffocating on solidified boredom while sitting at home.

I hate this cubicle. Not that I am eager to get back to my apartment… because I am not, but still it would be nice if I worked in a place that did not make me physically nauseous.

Probably not the best of ideas to start a day filled with so much negativity… but hey… I have tried and gotten tired of everything else.

There isn’t any point starting out filled with unwarranted enthusiasm… hoping that my work will preserve and maybe even improve my mood… because… well it certainly won’t.

So… why not start at the lowest it can get for me… at least that way, I’ll be firm in the cynical knowledge that nothing can get me down….

Well… further down at any rate.

My typical day has just begun anew.