The View

A good deal of my days are spent sitting at my desk in my office. And while I’m supposed to be focused entirely on what’s going on on the computer screen in front of me or the magazine proofs all over my desk, I occasionally (always) become rather distracted by what’s going on outside my window.

I’m on the 14th floor facing several other buildings so you wouldn’t think I’d get to see a lot of actual human activity, it’s kind of amazing all that I have seen in my time here. In the Sovreign, the massive building being built to the left of my window, two construction workers fell down an elevator shaft and died one day. For hours we watched emergency crews, ambulances and eventually the coroner arrive. In the parking lot of the building directly across from my window a drunk driver drove his car directly off the 7th floor of the parking garage where it was suspended by the cables until firemen scaled the wall and got him out of the car. I didn’t get to see all that as it happened in the middle of the night, but I did get to see all of the investigative work the following day. One evening, around 6ish, I saw two cars drive up to the very top of the parking deck across from me where no cars ever go. There was an exchange of two black suitcases by two men who kept their heads down the entire time and were never out of their cars at the same time. I’m pretty sure that was something I wasn’t meant to see.

The thing is, when my time at this desk is over, I will miss the daily drama that unfolds outside my window. What I will not miss however, is the pool that is in my direct line of vision – even when I’m trying to look at my computer! It is blue, tempting and looks oh-so-relaxing. And in the summer, it is packed. All day long. People splashing, laughing, laying out, reading books, floating around and just generally seeming to have a fantastic time.

Where do these people work?!? I want the job that ends with me living in a nice condo and lounging by my pool all day. And so, because my job actually involves me having to watch this display of happiness and not be a part of it, I think it’s best that I’ll be gone from my window post before the warm weather arrives. Because I think it might have been awkward when I snuck away from my desk and my co-workers noticed me soaking up the sun on a float in that pool. Which is exactly what I had planned to do come April.