Kafkaesque experience
Yesterday at my non-profit internship, my boss comes over to my cubical. He needs me to run to our President's office. (Our president is Peter Lynch, who is vice-president of Fidelity.) Is asks if I know where the office is. I say no. He says it's about 5 minutes away. Take a right on Oliver Street, walk past a big statue, take a left on State, and it's on the left after a liquor store. The door is glass, he says, and there's a phone out front. Pick up the phone, introduce yourself, and the person on the other end will open the door. The office is on the 4th floor.
I follow his directions. On State Street, the sidewalk goes both ways around the T stop building. I walk closest to the street. I can't find 27 State Street, so I turn around and walk on the other side of the T stop. And of course there it is. Now, what my boss didn't tell me was that it's not a liquor store, it's more of a wine shop, very upscale. I was thinking more along the lines of Top's Liquors on University.
I could easily have missed the entrance. It's just a double door with a gold "27" on it. Not the sort of place you'd expect someone like this guy to work. I look for the phone, and decide that the phone is supposed to be where there's a huge gaping hole in the wall with wires sticking out. I didn't bring my phone, so I can't call the office. I stand there for a minute, and a guy walks up with a bunch of bags. He pulls out tools and starts fixing the wires. I tell him I needed to use the phone to get into the building, so he pulls out a temp phone that he sticks in a socket and calls the guard. He lets me in, but the second door is locked. The workman swipes me through that door and tells me just to go up to the4th floor.
I get into the elevator, and there are four buttons: Door Open, Door Close, 4, and Emergency. No floors 1-3. I get to the 4th floor. I ring the bell at the office. The door buzzes, and his assistants tell me to come in. There's little furniture everywhere-- miniature couches, chairs, even a little table. Now, Peter is a tall guy. The only thing I could think of was that he has an adorable little granddaughter. I ask Shirley, the younger assistant. She says they are all for his dogs. I get the checks signed and leave.
There's a button to leave the office, a button to call the elevator, a button in the elevator, a button to get out the inside door, a button to get out the outside door.
Strange experience.
I follow his directions. On State Street, the sidewalk goes both ways around the T stop building. I walk closest to the street. I can't find 27 State Street, so I turn around and walk on the other side of the T stop. And of course there it is. Now, what my boss didn't tell me was that it's not a liquor store, it's more of a wine shop, very upscale. I was thinking more along the lines of Top's Liquors on University.
I could easily have missed the entrance. It's just a double door with a gold "27" on it. Not the sort of place you'd expect someone like this guy to work. I look for the phone, and decide that the phone is supposed to be where there's a huge gaping hole in the wall with wires sticking out. I didn't bring my phone, so I can't call the office. I stand there for a minute, and a guy walks up with a bunch of bags. He pulls out tools and starts fixing the wires. I tell him I needed to use the phone to get into the building, so he pulls out a temp phone that he sticks in a socket and calls the guard. He lets me in, but the second door is locked. The workman swipes me through that door and tells me just to go up to the4th floor.
I get into the elevator, and there are four buttons: Door Open, Door Close, 4, and Emergency. No floors 1-3. I get to the 4th floor. I ring the bell at the office. The door buzzes, and his assistants tell me to come in. There's little furniture everywhere-- miniature couches, chairs, even a little table. Now, Peter is a tall guy. The only thing I could think of was that he has an adorable little granddaughter. I ask Shirley, the younger assistant. She says they are all for his dogs. I get the checks signed and leave.
There's a button to leave the office, a button to call the elevator, a button in the elevator, a button to get out the inside door, a button to get out the outside door.
Strange experience.