the indirectness of it all...

There are days when I wonder how I will ever adjust to working in a North American office setting ever again...
...where you don't get to take breaks for baleadas whenever the urge strikes
...where friends don't stop by to plan the next soccer game or discuss church happenings, never concerned with what "work" they might be interrupting
...where delivery trucks and their fumes don't give you a headache on a regular basis
...where stray dogs can't just wander inside
...where women selling lorocco and tamales pass by several times a day
...where people can speak directly to one another and not beat around the bush.

Some days, I don't know how much more of the indirectness I can handle.
Here is a transcription of one small example of my life in the office of ACDIM:

(O is my co-worker, I am C)

O: "charissa i think i need to buy an envelope. do you think I might be able to find an envelope around here? ...i think i need an envelope."

(C produces envelope from drawer)

O: this is a good envelope. exactly what i needed.

O: "but i mean i mean do you think we can put the name on it, or i mean...how...? no you probably can't use the printer, right? i mean, how will we put his name on it?"

(2 minutes of hmmm, what can we do...how will i do this, etc...)

O:"i guess we should just write the name on it, no?"

C: "yep."

(2 more minutes of personal debate, aloud)

O:"maybe you have better writing than me, don't you think?"

C: "...yes. do you want me to do it? i will do it. tell me how you want it."
(proceed with 3 more minutes of directing my exact placement of the words on the envelope, questioning how it should be addressed, then when i give my suggestion changing it anyway...then telling me my capital letters aren't capital letters and maybe we should re-do it.)

I think after 15 minutes, we had a simple white enevelope, with a very complicated title, that some municipal officer will not even notice, and probably not even read the letter inside. awesome.

some days...I just can't take it. so I have to blog-it-out :)