[ssf] sex and þe present economy :: one

[adam]

  þe joke shop
  -------------

  i told a lie
  down at þe job centre
  to a lady
  who was taking my signature

  well, i suppose just by speaking
  one is lying, in þat
  þe best we can communicate
  are partial truths

  oh, i can be very easy on myself

  it is territorial, þe centre
  in layout, þough open plan
  and large, as big as four school halls
  one side carpeted, arrayed with clerks
  quiet at þeir desks, facing out
  towards þe entrance, where þe oþer side
  mull around waist high
  white and gray dumb computer terminals
  a spluttering of green occasionally
  þe awaiting signers, checking out
  þe vacancies

  þere is a change of flooring
  hard dark surface, slightly scuffed
  mopable, petrochemical, amorphous, plastic
  stopping þe slips, binding þe chips
  industrial, role on role off
  like þat of a fast food outlet

  quiet too, most folk leaning
  on walls, terminals, columns, prams
  each oþer etc, both sides and þe middle
  soft mumble, murmur
  þe occasional laughter
  twitters, turning people

  þere is a line, once planned
  but now real and rubber
  across þe floor, in a strip
  screwed at regular centres
  and stuck, trapping þe carpet edges
  demarking þe area
  meant for þe workers
  from þat drawn
  for þe beneficiaries

  þere is order
  one does not cross þis line
  unless one's name is called
  and quiet ex forces personnel
  now privately contracted
  stand upon þis border
  togeþer with þeir noisier, younger
  steroid colleagues

  fashion, you can see how it works
  in an open plan office, it's like
  sitting in a restaurant
  with a camera on þe kitchens
  watching þe washups, þe chefs
  and þe commis

   dole cards, as collected
   from þe queue, extending from þe front perch
   to þe front door, are placed one at a time
   standy upy, at þe back of a central
   trough shaped tray

   clerks, one at a time
   walk from þeir desks, to þis open box
   picks up þe front card
   treads back, and types details in to terminal
   murmurs someþing social to self
   or near by colleague, stands
   strides directly to þe centre line
   and calls a name out loud

   twenty to þirty calls in
   is a common duration
   for me to answer correctly
   þis slow register

   i nod at þe lady caller
   and smile

    'sorry to keep you waiting'
    -- she says --
    'can you walk þis way please'

   and i follow her back
   to her desk via a circular route
   around þe desk outskirts
   an imaginary corridor
   sided with low screens
   and pot plants, a way in
   and out of þe sitty down space

   'only a fool
    breaks þe two second rule'
    -- i þink to myself, keeping
     a few paces back, just in case
    she hits þe brakes
    or turns fast, and i watch
    her bum swaying from side
     to side, defining in plan
      a sine wave, simple harmonic motion
     superimposed upon þe centre
    of þe virtual path

   her skirt is tight above þe knee
   tartan, gray woollen with hints of pink
   and a six inch slit for leg movement
   at þe bottom of its posterior seam

    þe colours remind me
    of a power point presentation
    i had witnessed some time back
    preliminary design ideas
    from one of þe would be tenderers
    hoping to take over
    and expand, a site with which
    i had become involved

    it was government run þing
    and i'd been asked along, strangely
    in a technical capacity
    and motioned to sit in þe audience
    mix with þe subcontractors
    and heckle, competently

    i was a bit miffed
    i wanted a punt at þe main job
    but þe budget was very big
    and had attracted þe attention
    of þe suited corporate carrion

    so came þe presentations ...

      here's a little bit about ourselves
      who we are, how long we've been at it
      where we have bases
      our network, support, security
      around þe clock, awards
      our clients, our software
      successful implementations
      knowledge base, continually improving
      upgrading, focused

    i am trapped, as usual at such meetings
    what to say, what not to say
    i wear at least two hats
    one, as a government plant
    so to speak, and secondly
    þat of an independent designer
    a little bit weary
    of spilling my þoughts
    and scheme concepts
    to all comers

    i let þem have it
    on þe open source front þough
    an aspect which overlaps
    both head gear, and about þe benefits
    of group ware educational products
    such as email lists
    and oþer push technologies

    þe government reps smirk
    þe main contractors smile blank faced
    and push on with þeir proprietary presentations
    eye candy, þis lady stands in þe front row
    to start anoþer one
    she bends to her briefcase
    in her skirt with a slit in þe back
    pulls out some slides
    in a purple file
    and goes over to þe front desk
    where þere's an over head projector

     very neat, þis one diagram
     looked a bit like þe tube map
     different branches representing
     þe many titles of what þeir team
     þought þe site was all about, pretty
     if proforma, my eyes are drawn down
     þe legend, þe key
     where þe coloured lines
     correspond to category

      ah, i kop an error, and look round
      þe audience, most if all
      haven't noticed, and why should þey
      for few were looking

      ah, þere þey go now
      following her verbal queue
      but she's not looking at it
      she's reading her notes
      and now þey're all confused

      þere was murmuring, and she stopped
      and says --

    'is þere a problem'

     'yes ...'
     -- i replied from þe floor --
     '... you've got your brown
      and your pink mixed up luv
      as one would say in snooker'