Executive Conference Room

Where I work, one of the things I am responsible for is the Executive Level conference rooms, whether it is for connecting to secure video conferences or room upgrades. A while back, we were rebuilding the Vice President of Space Exploration's conference room, and we had to reconfigure the walls in the area. This area is next to where my cube is located. The lady who sits across from me is somewhat vocal about her thoughts. I think she is from Brooklyn, NY. Her cube was right next to where we were taking out a wall to add a small hallway that leads to the Vice President’s office area. We were about to start the work, and I was walking past her cube with blueprints in hand. She stood up and asked how we were constructing the area, as she was concerned that foot traffic and a possible door might interrupt her while she was on the phone during meetings. As seriously as I could, I unrolled the blueprints, looked at them, then pointed to the wall right behind her cube and said we were planning to install a heavy steel door with a push-bar opener. This steel door was going to have a heavy spring to make sure it closed on its own. It might slam shut, but that was a requirement for a secure area. She was just about to lose it and said, “You have GOT to be kidding!” I responded “Yes”. Since she was gearing up for a verbal fight, she really did not know how to respond when I said yes. I had to assure her that this area was going to be first-class and that there would not be a door, but an open hallway. We were going to build a wall so that her and her neighbor’s cubes would be isolated from the foot traffic leading into the Executive office area.

On a side note, I can hear when she is on the phone, and lord help those who overcharge her on a bill. I told her one time that if I ever got overcharged on a bill, I wanted to hire her to represent me on the phone to get it straightened out.