Oh Joe [Thursday, June 24 2010]

My time in India is winding down. It's so bizarre to think about how different things will be when I get home. The freedom of being able to drive places myself and walk around Arlington and DC is going to be really nice. I think probably the hardest part of being here—the biggest adjustment—is to be entirely dependent on a driver to get you everywhere. And the inability to just be able to call sometime to drive you somewhere when the mood strikes you. It's tough getting used to.

This morning Manjeet picked me up at 8:30 a.m. and we headed into work. I got to the office before most everyone else. The lights were out and—unlike the ones in the US office—they didn't automatically come on. I couldn't find a light switch anywhere, so I just sat in the dark with just the light of my laptop. I think I scared the janitor when he came by to switch on the lights.

Another bit of randomness—there are bathroom attendants (or at least someone constantly cleaning the bathroom) at the offices here. Now, I don't care what country I am in, I am not a huge fan of bathroom attendants. I always feel like saying "thank you for the paper towel that I could have grabbed myself." And then they expect a tip? I mean, what? Granted, the attendants here are more or less just making sure that everything is clean and in working order, but it's still so weird. Oh—and I walked in at one point today and the woman was sitting on the bathroom floor, barefoot, and picking her toenails. Gross.

Today was a busy day, so I don't have too many juicy tidbits to add to this blog. However, despite the busy-ness I still managed to sneak attack some designers and take photos. Three victims today: Nitra, Anita, and Pooja.

After a very long leadership team meeting, my driver picked me up. This was a completely new guy, so I was a little apprehensive at first, but I was so wrong to worry. I would like you to meet the slowest and most cautious driver in all of India. He speaks no English, has greasy hair, and wears a cream-colored jumpsuit. We'll call him Joe. Joe drove so slowly that I thought he car was actually in neutral at first. And remember what I said about speed bumps/humps yesterday? Well, Joe slowed down and very cautiously drove over every singly one along the way. At one point I was concerned we might actually roll backwards. Of course, like all good Indians, he did his fair share of honking. He would cautiously drive around, flipping on his blinker at random and arbitrarily honking his horn at bicycles that were passing him on the street. Oh Joe.

Speaking of bicycles, I don't know why, but they amuse me to no end here. I mean, there's nothing really different about the way one person rides a bike versus another, but tonight I kept singing the evil witch (from the Wizard of Oz) theme song in my head whenever someone biked by. I don't typically do that in the states, so I'm not sure why it's so natural for that to pop into my head here, but it does almost every time. Last night a guard was biking by in my complex and it was like he was so into it, but he was in his weird 1970s style guard uniform…I don't know. It made me giggle.

Commuting in the US is going to be so boring after this.