John the Intern’s Day Off
Going into work when you’re sick: admirable, or inconsiderate? We all remember that girl from seventh grade who came into school with a stomach virus JUST to show her scholarly tenacity; you know, the same one who started the head lice plague four years earlier (motto: “if it aint’ airborne, it aint’ gonna stop me”). I never really understood her, though, because I’ve always valued the amount of work that can be done from home. As of today, I can express my pleasure in interning for a like-minded company. In my last post, I mentioned that DailyMe favored the desktop computer over its portable younger brother. Don’t let this fool you—my employers have no qualms about taking their work home with them. Thanks to gifts like home internet, email networks, webcams, iPhones, Blackberries, and boysenberries, we can simulate nearly every element of interacting with co-workers (besides smell) from the comfort of our kitchens. I came down with mild illness today, so the opportunity to experience pajama work seemed ripe. So far, I’d give the experience two thumbs up. I’m comfortable, focused, and recuperating. The only downer is that I’m slightly–how would one say–incommunicado. Despite the technology at our finger tips, discourse with the boss seems a bit emptier via e-mail and IMs. There’s certain roundness to direct human interaction, and I think that is what’s missing. The trend of our dialogue has been increasingly concise, and I found it comical by noon. It’s as if we want to maximize the efficiency of online communication, and will use any abbreviation to achieve that. My last e-mail from Mrs. Boss didn’t even have a message inside—she squeezed it into the subject line (her nickname around the office is “20 words or less”). Until the next e-mail comes in, though, I’m going to take either a nap or an ibuprofen capsule. Bad day to be sick, as the cleaning lady is here. I can’t hear any of my soaps above her…soaping, I guess. Peace, Love, and Personalized Media. -John the Intern www.dailyme.com
