The Phone Call

Blackberries are horrible horrible things. Trust me. I hate them. Of course, I didn’t always feel this way. I remember the first day of training in NYC, when I learned that all Analysts would be receiving these uber-cool, ergonomically-sexual electronic marvels: I was stoked. (Bare in mind that I entered Banking naïve and unaware of everything it entailed (hell, I didn’t even know how big the bonuses were) – and a fair amount of people probably think I’m idiot for admitting that.) Anyway, this “stoked-ness” lasted exactly as long as the duration of this explanation, provided by the person seated next to me: You don’t want a Blackberry – it’s allows your bosses to keep you on a leash, no matter the time or place.

Good point. In banking you’re on a leash. Even if you leave the office, there are several ways to get back in touch with you: cell phone, office voicemail and blackberry. (As a frustrating aside, while cell phone and blackberry are the easiest way to get in touch with someone, some still feel that the antiquated office voicemail system is preferable – why this is, and why I should have to check my in office voicemail when I am not, in fact, in the office is beyond me). The worst feeling in the world (read: admitted hyperbole) is sitting at home on a Sunday night, getting ready to relax and some sleep to prepare for the week ahead, and seeing your cell phone caller ID light up with the office phone number.

This exact occurrence is precisely why I am so tired right now. Getting “lit up,” so to speak, by your boss at 10PM only means one thing: you’re going back in to work. Screw your plans to watch the TiVo’d Family Guy and appease your girlfriend with Grey’s Anatomy – those will have to wait. I did, of course, toy with the idea of sticking with my original plans and just going into work extra-special early, but then realized that I’ve lost every battle with the snooze button for the past 5 years and that there was no way in hell I could get in before 8AM if I closed my eyes.

I eventually got into the office at 10:30PM and, for a moment, feared stumbling around in the awkward emergency lighting before managing to turn on the soothing fluorescents. This fear, however, was short lived as I realized that, even at this hour on Sunday, no less than 5 people were still in the office (that makes up about a third of the Analyst class).

I won’t bother you with what transpired between my arrival and departure at 3:30AM (not sure I could remember it in any case), but this episode has cost me dearly this week. I haven’t been able to recover full cognitive functions until this morning (when I awoke so surprisingly refreshed that I figured I’d overslept and immediately panicked) due to successive late nights, lunchless days and way too much caffeine keeping my eyes saucered even though they should be shut.