(no subject)

I work in what is probably known as an open-plan office--my desk is within an office, but it has no ceiling, instead being open to the higher hallway ceiling. This in turn wraps around a three-story atrium. I'm told that the purpose of the design was to encourage discussion and collaboration among the scientists who work here, but the idea comes from the same architects who designed a bus shelter with a great big hole in the roof. The end result of the open plan is that those of us dwelling in it get to hear just about every conversation going past, plus all the doors opening and closing.

For me, this isn't much of a problem; I used to work in a cube farm, and while it was quieter there, I got used to ambient noise. Nowadays I can pretty much ignore anything but a loud and constant conversation nearby, or the floor polishers, which should require earplugs.

So, no ceiling. However, it was still quite odd to hear a voice calling me and have to look up to see what was going on. A very polite maintenance guy was on a ladder peering over my office wall, asking me to move for a moment so he could pull something down off the ceiling. I wonder how many people he encountered looked around wildly before figuring out that they had to look up.

If ever I have to hide, I'm gonna try to go up. People tend to forget the third dimension.