office spaces . It was a Tuesday morning , so I wasn ’ t sure where all the people were . Those thoughts quickly dissolved when Tim poked his head into my office .
“ Good morning , Gus .” He said . “ I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment .”
“ You ’ re already talking , Tim . What is it ?” I said , giving him my attention , trying not to show too much aggression . He was a temp . For all I cared , he would be gone soon .
“ I just wondered if there was anything you wanted me to do this morning . Anything specifically . I got here really early this morning because you told me that most people came in at 7 o ’ clock . I was the first one here , though .” He rambled on and on for another minute or so .
“ Tim – just go make some coffee and answer the phone .” I said , shuffling some papers to try and show him how busy I was . “ I have a lot of work to get done today .”
When he left my office , I put on some quiet music and got to work . The phones would start ringing off the hook soon . Being a lawyer was my future career goal , so I was working as an informational technology specialist while taking my final classes of law school . My mom was a nurse , but I managed to pay for most things by myself .
Answering phone calls and replying to strongly worded emails from confused middle age people who had no business with technology was clearly the dream for me . Wrong . I remember feeling miserable at the time . Looking back , I suppose I could have been more appreciative . At least I had a job to pay my bills .
Later in the day , after lunch some time , Tim was back to my office door , bringing his usual influx of awkwardness with him . I gave him an annoyed smile because it had been quiet that day . Not one of my clients had bothered me like he managed to do just about every day since he had been hired . My boss tried to remind me that I started out that way once , but I couldn ’ t remember being nearly as trying a person as Tim was .
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