Today’s lunch began like any other day, albeit a bit later than usual. On the way back, with fruit and salad bar items in my hands (Whole Foods urges me to save the environment and not use bags!), I didn’t feel like waiting for the stupid elevator that takes forever to get to your floor. I think the second was out of order too, which furthered my mood. Despite telling myself that I would never again use the stairwell – the last time I did, going down, I thought it to be very isolated and kind of scary, let’s just say if something happened to you alone no one would probably find you for a long time – I decided to use it anyway to save time. Little did I know until my ascent, that there were no floor markings to indicate which floor I was on. I didn’t realize how tired I was until I hit about floor three either. Huffing and puffing and juggling all I was carrying up the long stairwell, I noticed that basically all of the floor-level doors were locked from the outside hallways. In other words, there was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t figure out which floor was mine and my desperation grew. Finally I made my way to the first open door I could find, which was propped open for breeze. It led into an office reception area no where near where I imagined the elevator would be. I contemplated going in and seeming like a complete idiot and after some hesitation, realized it was my only option unless I wanted to go all the way back down again. I didn’t want to. And so I faced the receptionist. “I, uh, got off on the wrong floor.” The way she smiled it was confirmed. I’m an idiot. And so I exited and made my way past a glass door to the elevator waiting area. A guy chatting on his phone smiled at me and said hello. Hello? Apparently, as he later explained to me and his coworker behind me, I looked JUST like their old receptionist. Then he kept joking how I was scared of this stranger talking to me. I wasn’t. But looking back, should I have been? Anyway, the other guy asked the smart question: do I even work here? Bingo. I don’t. And didn’t. And probably never in my life will. Case closed.
I made my way to my proper floor. Two floors down. Silly me, silly me.
Thursday adventures done, I settled back into my life as an intern on the right floor.
