One insidious mind-numbing part of this job is the building. It's almost a perfectly typical base of operations for a faceless bureaucracy. There is one floor (recently remodeled, more open floor plan, better lit) out of seven that differs from the rest, but even it is mind-numbing in some ways.
Probably the worst thing about it, especially as the winter is starting, is the lack of windows. There are none in my office, nor any offices I go to regularly. The cafeteria has windows and I get lunch there most days and bring it back to my desk. (Maybe my mood would be greatly helped simply by eating down there. But then when could I blog?) Even in the cafeteria or offices that do have windows, high cubicle walls and generally bad layouts make it hard to see the sky in anything more than just narrow glipses. The only time I see the sun during work weeks in the winter is during the five-minute shuttle ride on my morning commute, and when I get lunch or deliberately go outside for some reason.
In the halls of most floors, the walls are off-white or eggshell and the trim, floors and ceilings are various shades of gray. In offices on most floors, the grays continue with eggshell cabinets and are supplemented by conventional shades of peach, tan and light brown on cubicles and metal filing cabinets. I think the desks are wood-patterned plastic.
Lightlessness and monotony aren't the only problems with the layout of the place. Halls on either side of the building twist around the elevators and stairs and bathrooms. In a building with a sensible layout, going from one hall to a parallel one requires making two left turns (or two right, depending on which way you're going), but here it requires turning left, then right, then left, then left (or the reverse, depending). The layout is simple enough on a map, but when you're walking through the halls they almost feel labyrinthine.
Various offices have seals or flags outside the door as appropriate and there are decorations, but there aren't too many and they are mostly staid, conservative and cheap. Paintings depicting the history of this department's field or people in this department doing heroic deeds, but mostly in a boring, representational style, at least a step below the quality of art in a hotel lobby. In addition to the art in the halls, the main hall on the first floor of the building is taken up by a permanent exhibition about the history of the department, and there are also several smaller historical or educational exhibits on other floors. However, these confuse me a bit. I don't understand who they are for. This place is hardly a tourist attraction. In fact, you need employee ID or an escort to even get into the building. The only people I can think of appreciating the exhibits are visiting dignitaries with unaccountable free time, and new people in the first month or so of their time here.
So my office building is mazelike, gray, drab and windowless. There are few decorations in public areas, and those we do have are either cheap and crappy or pointless, if not both. Admittedly, us writers in cubicles get the worst of it, and some people with offices and windows have downright nice workspaces, but still, from where I sit, this place is soulless.
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