Office Atmosphere

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23205, 26 November 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

Office Atmosphere

It All Depends 011 the G

TTAVING been rather left at the post in the present-day race for " efficiency," "push," and "progress,"' 1 find a visit to a city office a little unnerving. Even if my business is as important to the firm as it is to me—the. payment, of a bill, for instance —when 1 fiud myself in the presence of figures, typewriters, office-desks and eye-shades, 1 feel about as big as a poor little under-nourished peanut. Actually, of course, since the payment of my bills is the life-blood without ■which these places of business could not function, the position should be reversed. 1 should be the ogre, they Bfcould be the peanuts. But, alas! For me it is not so. Doubtless the reason for this is the fact that 1 have not been endowed with either " business instinct," or " commercial acumen." 1 have had ■very little to do with business deals, and in the few transactions with which I have had to cope—the most intricate of which was the exchange of a cage full of budgerigars for one parrot —I ha.re invariably felt at the mercy of the " other party." Furthermore, a ' place of business 66'Dms to have too much affinity to speedy mental calculations for my liking. Arithmetic was never my strong point, and 1 prefer to avoid contact with it whenever possible. Office staff's seem to be such wizards of mathematical efficiency. Subtraction of discounts, addition of sales taxes, and other nasty little calculations which, even with the help of my ten fingers and several pieces of scribbling . paper, do not always come out correctly, seem to be child's play to an office staff. The change handed to me when I have paid my bdl never looks right, but 1 would not dare to try to count it in such efficient Presences. If I could be sure of getting the same answer to my own calculations more than once, 1 might bo able to' pluck up enough courage, but so far. my mathematical skill has not reached these heights. Three Types of Office Girl Hence >l. ani hardly in the position to make criticisms of office employees. But 1 can at least, state with conviction that I do know something about, thu amazing differences that exist in the atmosphere of offices and other places of business. These differences imiy he 'attributable to the type of business, the size, or other characteristics, but judging by my own experience I think they are mainly Vino to the staff. Office girls, I have discovered, can be divided into three classes. (1) The girl who, dispels my trepidation at once with two' words and a smile, and who, no matter how triflng my business, makes me feel as though I am the firm's favourite and most important client. (2) The girl who regards herself, me, and the business in hand merely as three cogs in a machine, and who is as -unaware of herself as she is of me, so that with her I have no doubts about my change being anything but absolutely correct. (3) The girl Tho pre-suppo'ses that I am a fool at filling in forms, that I am hopeless at figures and that my business is so puerile as to be beneath her consideration. When I come across this type I feel that I am an even bigger fool at filling in forms, and more addled-headed at figures than I imagined, and that my business is so trifling that I should have taken it to the message >boy. Unfortunately, as a result of my spineless collapse before the barrage of a door-to-door agent, I am at present obliged to face one of these terrifying business girls once a month. My committment is Is per week to be paid every four weeks. If all the agent saidl is true, then the benefits I shall receive and the opportunities I shall get bvvsigning on that dotted line will far outweigh my periodic ordeal at the hands of the girl in his office. Why the Grimness? • Luckily, the form I have to fill in each time I go to pay my 4s is such a simple affair, that even I have managed so far to fill it in without mistakes or omissions. But whenever I hand it to the sour-faced girl behind the counter, I stand in fear' and trembling in case the worst has happened and I have made a mistake. She takes it grimly, gives my a dis-

By JOSEPHINE BLIGH

approving stare and without a word or a smile, makes a few marks on it and pushes over my change. .Whether it is always correct or not I have not yet had the courage to discover. 1 take it and go as fast as 1 can. Needless to say, my feelings toward this particular office girl are not of the tenderest. Early instruction from my Sunday school teacher still has h strong influence upon my thoughts and actions, however, and I find myself involuntarily making excuses for her grim and forbidding manner. After all, there is usually a reason for grimness. Who knows what dreadful tragedy might have blighted her life and warped .her outlook:-' She might, for instance, have been " crossed in love." Perhaps' another woman had caught her lover's eye just as ho was about to descend to his knees and isay those magic but so compromising words, and so had left a hard lump 'prhere her heart used to be. Or if this was not the reason, perhaps her digestion had failed her prematurely and forced her to abandon her roast beef and baked potatoes for a dry biscuit and a couple of lettuce leaves. On such a diet as this, how could life be coloured with any other than a jaundiced hue? 1 have thought of other iioul-destroying tragedies that might possibly account for her grim exterior, but they are too distressing to be mentioned here.

Some day I am going to succumb to ii persistent temptation and buy something on the " hire-purchase system." il am not quite sure just what " hirepurchase " means, but it sounds a very iiimple way of buying things that one lias always longed for but never hoped !;o have. If I do succumb and I again find myself paying monthly visits to Ji city office, 1 shall make sure that the girl who is to receive my instalments is one with a cheerful smile unci able to make the necessary marks on my card as though she were really enjoying it.