Most of my friends who know that I work as an Editor in a company that publishes academic books and journals are always taken aback when they learn how quiet it is in the Editorial Department. The only sounds one hears usually are of typing on keyboards, sometimes a furious click of the mouse, and of someone trying to open their packet of biscuits or chips packets very gently just so it doesn't sound like an announcement. Cell phones are usually kept on silent not because it's a company policy but because it may disturb the others and desk phones are attended to very, very quickly. It is almost like the department is a pond where we work hard not to let ripples disturb us. A place where we come every morning and gently sink into our jobs. Happily, I add. Editors are usually the silence loving types anyway. It takes time for others to understand how a person like me who can barely sit still and who can get loud while talking, manages to work in a job that usually demands just the opposite on days I am not traveling on business or on endless phonecalls.
Friend: Your office is so quiet and so dull!
Me: Well, it is the Editorial department after all. We have researchers and Editors working on various projects that demands high level of concentration.
Friend: But it's so lifeless! How do you even sit at your desk day-after-day?
Me: I've started enjoying the peace.
Friend: But you are missing out on lively interactions that most "normal" offices have. There's chit-chatting, laughing, people sharing food and gossip.
Me: I did spend my initial months on the administration floor when the Editorial office was being renovated. It wasn't bad but then there is a major advantage of working in a quiet environment.
Friend: Really? Like what?
Me: If I am busy checking my Facebook page on a busy floor, I seem anti-social. On the quiet Editorial side of the office, I look busy and focused.
Friend: ....
Friend: Your office is so quiet and so dull!
Me: Well, it is the Editorial department after all. We have researchers and Editors working on various projects that demands high level of concentration.
Friend: But it's so lifeless! How do you even sit at your desk day-after-day?
Me: I've started enjoying the peace.
Friend: But you are missing out on lively interactions that most "normal" offices have. There's chit-chatting, laughing, people sharing food and gossip.
Me: I did spend my initial months on the administration floor when the Editorial office was being renovated. It wasn't bad but then there is a major advantage of working in a quiet environment.
Friend: Really? Like what?
Me: If I am busy checking my Facebook page on a busy floor, I seem anti-social. On the quiet Editorial side of the office, I look busy and focused.
Friend: ....
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