All hail my powers of concentration

Sauntering Vaguely Downward

Mad Scientess Jane Expat

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[20190305|22:42]

Mad Scientess Jane Expat

[

Tags

anecdote, nostalgia, work

]

Ever since I was a child I've been able to immerse myself completely in things to the exclusion of everything around me. This power of concentration, or "total lack of situational awareness" if you prefer, never left me. My favourite anecdote about it is the one from when I was about ten. My dad handed me a drink whilst I was reading. I took a big swig of it without looking at it. It was beer (stout). I ran around the house trying to find things to eat and drink to take the taste away for a good quarter of an hour.

Today was the first time in a while I've had this particular ability tested. I work in a big glass fishbowl of an office. I like the fishbowl. It's clean, modern, has good lighting, and I have a nice desk between two lovely colleagues, with three on the other side of the partition. The fishbowl is quite a busy place, with phones ringing and people talking.

I was in the middle of writing a document when one of my favourite lecturers came up behind me. According to my colleagues, she became curious when I failed to react to her presence, especially since all five of them had acknowledged her. (She has a very strong presence. She is also quite mischievous.) She crept up very close to my chair and said cheerfully, "Hello!"

I leapt out of my chair and then burst out laughing. She looked almost as astonished as I was. "How did you not notice me?!" she demanded, sounding mildly offended. "It's my superpower," I replied. "Rubbish, isn't it?"

This entry was originally posted at https://nanila.dreamwidth.org/1237937.html. The titration count is at

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Comments:

From:

meathiel
2019-03-06 06:30 (UTC)

I wish I had that superpower as working with 5 other people in an office is taxing for me. I always feel I could be much more productive if I had my own office.

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From:

nanila
2019-03-10 20:03 (UTC)

I hear you. I wish there was more flexibility in deciding how office allocations worked. Some of us are totally fine in shared offices and others need solitude, and it has nothing to do with how high up the hierarchy you are. :/

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

From:

spiffikins
2019-03-09 20:25 (UTC)

I don't think your superpower is rubbish at all! I wish I could do that :)

(Reply) (Thread)

From:

nanila
2019-03-10 20:05 (UTC)

Haha, thanks! I guess it works out well for me in this office. :P

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