If I worked at Sterling Cooper...

If we took ourselves back 40 years, and I was a Madman (women).... how my life would be in a different agency life:

• My back would kill every night from walking around in 4-inch high heels
• I would have a wet bar in my cubicle
• My cubicle would be an office... with my name plate
• Wait... back up... I would probably be the secretary on the outside of the name plated office...probably praying for the day I got pregnant so I didn't have to type up contracts... and retype them anytime there was a change...
• My bosses would call my landline at home... or, better yet, drop by unexpectedly to chat business. And this wouldn't seem out of the ordinary
• I would smoke. Because that is what they did... especially when drinking scotch at 9 a.m.
• My hair, or the O-zone, would never be the same after all the Aquanet I used every day

I think I'll take my little cubicle... and my flat shoes... and my actual title. How things change in a few decades...

What about you? What would you like to bring back from office life in the 60s? Tell on...

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Notable Quotables

"Think about those moments in your life that meant the most to you. Were you alone? Life is better when you share it with someone else. Everyone needs a co-pilot."

-"Up In the Air"

That's the next movie on my list... George Clooney, plus what sounds like a good script. I like it.

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Notable Quotables

"If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it." Andy Rooney, journalist and commentator

What are you smiling about today?? Do tell...

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Dress Up Time

"Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story."

-Mason Cooley, college professor

What's your story this weekend?!

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Webster It...

My friend just wrote me from Seattle and told me my blog was cathartic. After consulting Mr. Webster... I laughed. Look it up... you might laugh too.

Well played, Seattle. Well played.

Watch out B-M Purge Week... I'm ready... with a ready vocabulary.

Any more words I can over-use that week?

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B-M Purge Week

Before I forget, I need to document that I will soon be forced to participate in 2009 B-M Purge Week. Yes, this is an official week in my office. And they have posted signs in the bathroom stalls, reminding us when we should purge of our un-needed B-M materials on a specific week in November. (insert giggle #1)

Does anyone else find the choice of words hysterically funny? And slightly inappropriate to be used inside of an agency known for its strong communication skills? People pay us to come up with the right words for the right situations. I think we failed... or won... in this particular instance. I would give 100 percent credit to whoever came up with that... but something tells me they weren't thinking about the double meaning. (insert giggle #2)

Am I in 6th grade? Perhaps... but it makes me giggle every time I go into the bathroom. Which is kind of awkward for the person in the next stall...

I love Office Culture :) ...

Anyways... off to the bathroom to purge... I mean...

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The Phantom of the Staircase

I have to say... I feel bad for smokers.

I feel bad that they are voluntarily inhaling carcinogens in 2010... when there are more proactive non-smoking groups and information about the dangers of smoking than there elementary schools [that is clearly a made up comparison, based on nothing.... but you get my point]

I feel bad that they always seemed stressed out... until they have a cigarette.

I feel bad that the annoyance of second hand smoke has caused state-wide laws against smoking in public and forced them to go outside on cold, rainy, snowy days.

I feel bad that they have an extra tax... and that their clothes smell the next day.... and when people refuse to kiss their ash-tray mouths.

And I especially feel bad when they choose to live in a high rise... and are too tired to walk to the elevators to hit #1 and smoke outside when it's cold and rainy.

But more than anything I feel bad for my apartment right now that has been overtaken by smoke from the staircase....from X smoker's unfortunate habit that now has morphed into my #1 annoyance of 1350 N. Lake Shore Dr. This Phantom Smoker puffed enough nicoteine tonight to fill a 22-floor staircase.

For the love of fresh air. I just opened my window... and it's raining and 40 degrees. I haven't done that since my friend accidentally sprayed mace in my apartment back on Cornelia Ave... which deserved, at the time, an entirely separate blog.

I mean... seriously... in the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude!"

So my annoyance resulted in a second call on this subject to management about the Phantom of the Staircase. Call me the cranky cat lady from the 8th floor, but I'm not a fan of my apartment smelling like a frat house. Can you blame me? And better question, will they/can they do anything about this? Not sure... but maybe a return phone call would be nice. Or one of those elevator signs. Like when someone brought in an un-registered dog. That was all over the signage.

I say...bring on all the unregistered dogs you want... I would just like a smoke-free room, please. Thank you.

Anyone else deal with this at all in Chicago high rises?

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