Water Cooler Wednesday

I work from home full-time, so the most interaction I have with living beings on any given day is with my cats. Go ahead and judge, it's okay. Now, you might think that working from home is the best gig in the world. And I'll be honest with you, it does have its positive sides: (i.e: not having to commute, not having to drive in bad weather, being able to do some laundry on my lunch break, and being able to watch both the 11am and 5pm episodes of Gilmore Girls every day), but I do miss humans.

I like to think of the cats as my coworkers, and today we gathered around the water cooler (yes, they do have one) for the most fascinating event that has happened all week: ice cubes in the water dish. Now, as I briefly mentioned before, we actually have 4 cats in the house as of late since my sister and her boyfriend are staying with us. So that has spiced things up quite a bit with more cat fights, biting, some inappropriate mounting, and strange noises that I'm not sure I've ever heard come out of a cat before.

Never have I seen such a gathering as I did this morning around that water cooler. As the water filled the dish with water and surrounded the ice cubes, the cats sat around it and stared like it was a nest full of birds. One by one, the cubes started to crack and each time it was like fireworks went off. The cats scattered around the room, taking shelter under chairs and any other surrounding furniture. When the dish was finally full and the cubes floated noiselessly atop the water, it was the Amazing Race for who could get water first. You would think we never give them something to drink.

Sometimes I think back to my days in a real office and remember when the topics discussed at the water cooler were mainly Gucci shoes and Fashion Week, and I wonder which I like the most. The thing is, working from home does have its advantages, but I really miss the social interaction that the office environment provides. Mainly, not having to use my Mom voice every time someone climbs on the counter. I miss hearing about people's weekends, happy hours, and even the cigarette breaks outside the back door, though I wouldn't even take those now since I've quit. But I think if I did work in an office again, I would miss the crazy kitty antics all day. Though I might re-learn not to baby talk every person I come in contact with.