Out & About #1109 | Reaching New Peaks of Work Depression

I finally realized why I hated meetings and calls here so much. As opposed to a concise conversation with decisive outcomes, each session proceeds as a "brain dump", wherein attendees are collectively "brainstorming" without having considered the potential outcomes, advantages/disadvantages, and associated impacts beforehand.

To make matters worse, the presentation is jumbly and unclear. And it's up to whoever is present in that meeting to organize and condense those dumps into coherent, effective next steps. If no one is able to do the mental heavy lifting, then the meeting merely drags on.

Truthfully, I thought I had reached the pinnacle of work stress when I pulled my shoulder from overuse. Little had I known that the roughest was yet to come.

I felt somewhat safer at home, in the comfort of Larry, matcha lattes with homemade jam, and an endless array of breakfast items at my disposal. Inspired by spring's popular Matcha Banana Bread Latte, I assembled a toast version using Challah from COBS Bread, O-SULLOC's Green Tea Milk Spread, and ripe banana slices.

​The convenience of modern-day technology also enabled Walker's Shortbread to be within possession in a matter of hours. When Amazon was retailing the boxes at the same price as Walmart, how could I resists?

​I despise the office more than anything, for breathing has become increasingly difficult. While I enjoy seeing my fellow coworkers, my physical presence makes me more susceptible to in-person  ̶c̶o̶n̶v̶e̶r̶s̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ torment.

Wednesday started out peaceful, livened by the presence of the Farmer's Market and a Pineapple Dragon Fruit Lemonade Quencher in my mid-morning stroll.

​I also acquired a pasty granola bar from a promotional booth at the Hazel McCallion Central Library on my way out.

Over lunch, I began to fume over my manager's unwarranted stopover at my desk. Duties that were far beyond my role had been shoved my way with absolutely zero direction. Thinking and providing clear instructions on behalf of your direct supervisor had not been included in my job description. Neither was taking calls while other members of the team went to frolic at the department barbecue.

I explored UNIQLO briefly, redeemed my Lindt reward, and headed over to McD's to redeem 2000 points towards a Vanilla Cone. The latter was a horrid decision, as the satiating monstrosity led to queasiness in the stomach. Mixing Crunchy Biscoff into the specimen for a DIY Biscoff McFlurry did not help my case either.

​It was with immense annoyance that I regarded the rest of the team's attendance in the department barbecue. While I slaved away at an inhumane amount of work, others were hee-hawing after allocating their stressors to unfortunate souls such as myself. With thirty minutes left of the event, I decided to lug myself over anyway.

Alas, the park was humid, the food gone and attacked by bees, and raffle just finished. There was nothing left for me at the late hour except humidity. My stay was extremely short-lived - perhaps no more than five minutes - yet, in spite of the depressing turnout, I departed with four new bug bites. Good grief!

Mumbling as I angrily stormed out of the park, I resolved to make one detour before heading.

The Mississauga Library Card allowed users to check out Museum passes for up to four people. After maintaining a watchful eye on library inventory, I succeeded in snatching one at Woodlands Library.

​The final day of the work week was as equally miserable as those that preceded it.

Square One's bustling summer crowds aided in distracting me from the grimness of my current reality. Between the backpack-shaped back-to-school donation box, incredulous sales at Shoppers, and Shake Shack's new patio, it was nice to discover something new on each visit.

​An hp pop-up in the Centre Court instilled a branded frisbee and reusable utensil set into my hands after playing pachinko and seated soccer.

In honour of the arrival of August, my former coworker and I took advantage of CoCo's TOTM: a Lemon Probiotic drink.

​​No matter how brief the encounter, it was an interaction that I craved dearly: a friendship where we could thrive simply in the presence of one another and be exchange opinions on the issues associated with the modern workplace. Besides lending an ear for my endless rants and contributing her own share of stressful work stories, she was even kind enough to gift me with items received from a recent conference.
Since departing my downtown post, I had utterly forgotten how it was to be treated human again.

​I spent at least half the week contemplating recent happenings. Work alone had stripped me of the willpower to pursue other facets of my life; it was no longer uncommon to wither into a teary mass upon returning home.

The short commute and pay bump had camouflaged in tragedy in disguise. There was no saving the treacherous working conditions imposed by old-fashioned, backwards-thinking boomers.

"Do you know how long I've been doing this?? 38 years!"
​That's great. But has it ever crossed your mind that time spent doesn't equate to expertise achieved?

I shared the trivial altercation with a handful of others. One responded with a witty "These people should just retire.", conjuring meek - but highly necessary - laughter from yours truly.