Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Code Monkey

I'm wearing a skirt at work today, which if you know me, I do not wear skirts often. This is the 2nd day in a row actually. It has just been too darn hot, even for me. So, since I can't wear shorts to work, and I am a girl so it's socially acceptable for me to wear a skirt, that is what I've done.

At 5:00 pm today, I got a compliment on the clothes I'm wearing today (actually the guy used the word "outfit" which is also odd, b/c I didn't know guys used that word). And it occurred to me, at 5:00pm, that was the first time I had seen any of my co-workers all day. Or much of anyone for that matter. Thanks to LunchMaster I knew that other people I have lunch with, they all either packed their lunch or had other plans. So I went to the cafeteria and read a chapter in "Pragmatic Version Control using CVS" by Dave Thomas and Andrew Hunt. But I didn't see anyone I knew at lunch. My client manager's on vacation. And I've been sitting quietly in my cubicle coding the rest of the day. So, I never really saw anyone I knew all day. Odd.

Or is it odd? Being a code monkey like I am, I tend to favor e-mail and IM as means of communication over all else. That way I have history of what was said, because I will likely get caught up in something else and forget within a few days if I don't have it in writing... plus it's less of an interruption because if I'm in the middle of a thought, I can get to my email or IM whenever I'm ready. So I guess it's not so bad. It's much better than sharing a cubicle with a college intern with the constant barrage of questions, albeit appropriate questions for his level of experience, but still an interruption to my productivity and quest for sanity.

Anyway, my "nonsmoking break" time's over so I better get back to the isolated grind :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We had a guy here wear a skirt to work on Monday... well he called it a kilt, but he still got a lot of strange looks.

But regarding your comment about favoring IM and email over other forms of communication, I am reminded of Kathy Sierra's discussion about "Why face-to-face still matters" (http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/04/why_facetoface_.html). It's a good reminder that you still need some in-person social interaction once in a while -- even if it's just a compliment on your "outfit". :-)

Unknown said...

The article is rather interesting. Where I work, I have never met or seen a single person that I work with, and I believe that creates its own detrimental issues.

Gayle said...

"he called it a kilt" Funny! Was it plaid? Does a kilt have to be plaid?

That was an interesting article. I have to agree you do get to know people better in person. Not that it is impossible other than in person, I have had penpal-like people that I've gotten to know pretty well. But I think if nothing else, it happens faster in person because of body language, and also because the back and forth interaction, banter and what-not are exchanged more quickly in person. It takes more time to type, and wait for the next email.