SO, Monday was my first day as Friendly Front Deskette. I am happy to report that it was pretty uneventful. I’m also happy to report that I met some really interesting people, one in particular.
I don’t want to publish his name for fear that somehow he will get wind of this (ahhh my notoriety) and take it the wrong way. Let’s call him Bob. My first encounter with Bob was while the girl who was training me was on the phone and he came up to the desk and offered me some M&Ms. (Oh I like this guy already!) He just offered them and then walked off hurriedly, no doubt to some Mensa meeting on another floor. He came back by about 20 minutes later, apologized for only offering candy and not asking my name and introduced himself. He looks every bit the part of the quirky but brilliant Math professor, hair a little too long, outdated clothes a tiny bit askew, and an awkward but harmless smile.
The rest of my “training” (which consisted of understanding the mail room and all the intricacies of alphabetizing) was pretty hum-drum, until Bob showed up again. He darts into the office, grabs his mail and asks,
“So is Jessica interested at all in Math?”
(Curb the sarcastic snorts, cats.) Meanwhile, I swallowed my own snort and replied,
“Mildly.” (Insert your snort here.)
Whatever is the most opposite of being interested in Math, I am most certainly that. I’ll admit, I was a little taken aback that he mentioned Math in a context that suggested that it could be a hobby, some sort of leisurely free time waster. Perhaps that is why I answered a little less than truthfully. (Ok, one more snort.)
At my answer, Bob grabs a paper out of his box and plops it down in front of me and continues flitting about the office. Written on the piece of copy paper in the neatest blue INK handwriting I’d ever seen was the same equation written out four times, the only difference being one variable. (or whatever the actual Math term is) After a few minutes, Bob darts back over and smiles a satisfied smile, as if I should not be staring at a page feeling like I am reading Greek, but in fact understanding the depth of the theory he has just come up with.
Being the witty conversationalist that I am (and hoping for future M&Ms) I ask,
“So, Bob, what’s this all about?”
Yep. What in the world possessed me? I guess the ever inquisitive student in me hoped Bob the Brilliant could explain it in magical terms that my artsy little mind could understand, and he DID explain the theory to me…unsuccessfully….for what felt like half an hour, but turned out to be five minutes. (Maybe it was a theory on bending time through Mathematical theory discussion-in which case, his theory seems sound)
He made it sound so important-like he had just changed the face of Math-that I told him I felt like I should take a picture of it. (I really wanted to actually, every good blog post is better with a picture after all) To that he replied,
“Well, this is what cameras were made for.” (Photo-documenting Math theories? Seriously?)
Other than being an interesting person, I envy his drive. Or maybe the love he has for his work. I only hope I can have the same love and devotion for my work when I move out into my field. (I later found out that he sometimes works all night on Math problems/theories and sleeps in his very cluttered office or enters the theories in his computer only to take over when the computer without fail freezes after 50 hours of solving)
I’m sure there will be more interesting encounters with Bob the Brilliant. I will keep you posted.
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