Shared Space Etiquette

So, about that resolution I made a few weeks ago. I'm going to do better, I promise. ;-) Anyway, on to the post.

A part of my job description requires me to visit an area on a different floor from my office that is located in a large, open room filled with about ten employees, each of them having their own desk. Only one small area (off in the cut, mind you) is sectioned off, with two walls and a ceiling-high bookshelf as borders. This teeny-tiny space has 4 desks in each of its corners, one of them being assigned to me. Let's call this area "The Board." I'd be remiss if I didn't note that the bigger office is home to various and sundry machines, including huge Xerox copiers, a machine that houses files that reminds me of a gigantic electronic Rolodex (I forgot the actual name of the contraption), and a mainframe computer (I SWEAR!), all going at once. These machines are in close proximity to The Board and my desk there. As one might imagine, the combination of the small space, enclosed by a ceiling-high bookshelf blocking any air that even thinks about circulating, and the fact that The Board is mere inches away from several heat-emitting machines......... well, let's just say, it gets hot and stuffy at The Board, even if only one person is in that area. The single saving grace for any warm-blooded human at The Board is the ceiling fan.

I say warm-blooded human because there is a fellow employee who apparently has cold blood running through her veins and doesn't like or need the ceiling fan when she's at The Board. I try to avoid at all costs working with The Fan Nazi (hereinafter known as FN) at The Board.

So, today, I go upstairs to The Board because I had been slacking on that particular job responsibility. As soon as I walked up, I thought, "Great! There are already two bodies up here and the fan is off! But, at least FN is not one of them, and I know that I can turn on the fan once these two leave." And leave, they did. One, almost as soon as I sat, and the other five minutes later. YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got up, pulled the fan twice (it's not THAT hot to have the fan on full-blast hurricane gust), and reclaimed my seat, happy as a clam.

Soon thereafter, the bane of my Board existence, FN, meanders over. Did she just... I know she didn't just... I KNOW SHE DIDN'T JUST TURN THE FAN DOWN!!!!!!!!!! (these are the thoughts that ran through my head as I heard the gentle whir of the fan all but disappear).

To be continued...