Reality Bypass

Friday Flashback: I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait… August 6, 2010

Flashback from June 18, 2010

As much as I’d like to have full time writing be my only job, it’s not that way just yet.  This has a lot of pros and cons, since the office grind and my charming co-workers drive me a little crazy, but also provide a lot of writing fodder and motivation to keep at it, which is a side comment and really doesn’t have much to do with the subject of this post.  Hah.

The subject has more to do with the lanyard I wear for this job.  I work in IT and all of our rooms are locked down so that only folks with the right key card can get it.  The key card connects to a lanyard worn around the neck, so it’s pretty literally the electric collar and leash of the office.  Most of us, myself included, have been wearing the lanyard and card combination for so long we don’t notice it.  It’s such a part of my normal dress that I’ll wander around a store or out to eat without bothering to take it off.  This often leads to hilarity as people recognize a tag, any tag, as the sign of someone that works at an establishment.  Even though the lanyard states the company name on it, I’ll still get people stopping me in a department store to ask if I know where a certain size of shoe is or asking for a list of the specials of the day.  Just the fact I’m wearing a tag resonates with the idea that I must work there or somehow have the answers that someone wants.  I admit playing along sometimes and answering the questions if I happen to know.  It seems mean to send them away even if it reinforces the chance that it will happen again.

So all of this has been mulling in my brain as I’ve been working on character sketches over the weekend.  What things do we automatically associate with a job or a knowledge source and how is that different when dealing with various genres?  I have some of my answers…but I’m going to leave the question open because it bears thinking about.  Maybe my vampire hunters need badges…ones with bright yellow smiley faces that say “Have a Nice Day…”  Yeah…they’d go for that…  Not.

~J