Cafeteria Musings

Almost 5 years is the time I have been working in the software industry and there are no better ways to describe the lives and stories of people working in the software sector than the Cafeteria. Cafeteria brings out the best of expressions, reactions and emotions out of a person. At least in my workplace. Regular floor pantries are very small and they only allow for a very official 2 min conversation. So, Cafeteria is where you get to meet people (both known and unknown), to see others expressions and faces and what not, to relieve work pressure, to get a bird's eye view of the city and obviously to eat and drink. Cafeteria is also the knowledge center. From the minute details on the prices of sun mica/plywood to be used in a new house to the ideal financial investments one should make to cricket matters to school admissions, you get the whole perspective.

There are many types of people that you encounter in the cafeteria. Well, in a workplace like mine, you would know at most 30-40% of the people sitting at any point in the cafeteria. What about the rest ? For the rest, facial expressions and behavior are sometimes enough to know them. And sometimes not. Sometimes, you meet the unknown. Sometimes, there is definite eye contact. Sometimes, there is fear and other times, there is cheer when the Indian Team plays cricket. Cafeteria allows the person to vent his/her anger on the higher management, very seldom peers and very very seldom loved ones.

Apart from the usual bitching or backbiting people do in the cafeteria, there are an equal number of positives present. You get to gain a better understanding of this world by listening to the stories of so many different people. It is similar to a very well defined training program, where you grab what you want to use at almost the right time. You also get to seek other people's opinion on something and then judge them. Another positive from the cafeteria is the fantastic view that it offers of the city. Sometimes, you discuss the new buildings coming up and sometimes you predict the time it will take for the rains to reach this part of the city from another part where it is blurry and dark. For the office masses, it is perhaps the only hangout.

Watching facial expressions and observing people is another high point. You see a beautiful girl (which is quite rare in our building) and you completely lose track of the discussion on your table. Sometimes, you look at someone and you get a good amount of eye contact. These are the best times. You think that you are on top of the world even though you know the return eye contact was unintentional or was a mistake. Sometimes, you get the eye contact every few days. And sometimes you get back the "I-will-slaughter-you-and-eat-you" look. Sometimes, you observe someone for a good time and suddenly you see that someone wearing red-and-white colored wedding bangles or wearing the vermilion on the forehead. This is the time when you feel like a loser who missed an excellent opportunity. Sometimes, you do not see a person for a long time and suddenly you get to know that that person has left the company.
Best are the times when a female dresses in the "look-at-me-I-demand-your-attention" style and the males all cannot get their eyes off that female. I know it is completely normal and gratifying for the males to leer and the females to know that they are the talk-of-the-cafeteria, but sometimes watching the reaction of the males is more fun than the "out-of-place" dressed female.

So, these are some of the Cafeteria musings I have written. There is actually a lot to write about what happens on our cafeteria table but I will refrain from writing about anything too personal now. I know the above musings are a little bland and generic, but writing about the spicy and the specific is too risky given my social networking habits.