Trying to Go Green
By Andrea Miller
Through my year-long Adventures in Temping, I have come to learn a few things about the way businesses run. You can answer the phone in a British accent and no one will notice. Everyone thinks that everyone else is dumber than they are. And an increasing number of employers, and these include large multinational corporations, don’t have break rooms. I suspect it’s because this is the closest they can come to literally manacling employees to their desks.
But as a veritably nameless entity in an office, I’m free to leave to find somewhere else to eat lunch. Turns out, this can be pretty tricky. Especially in the concrete monstrosity of the downtown, finding a tree and a small patch of grass or a bench near some potted plants is a quest. If you’re one of the unfortunate sods who only get a half-hour lunch, it can be an impossible quest.
And I know that I’m not alone. At the moment I’m working on Front Street, which fortunately is close to two parks within walking distance: the one across from CanStage, and St. James Cathedral’s park1. Between the two there must have be hundreds of people crammed into those parks eating lunch, pushing dogs, walking babies…a conglomeration of businessmen and old men feeding birds sitting side-by-side on benches.
I would like to marvel in the ability of a little bit of grass to bring together so many different people.
But I can’t. I’ve got a touch of misanthropy in me that desires a quiet corner to feel alone on my lunch hour. Don’t get me wrong, I like being around people, and I like people-watching. The problem is that there are so many people. Or more rightly, there aren’t enough places for us all to go. My fruitless downtown wanders have taught me that.
I know that there are many hidden quiet places to go and eat or read a book. I also know that I don’t know where they are. So if you’ve got an excellent hidey-hole, please write and let me know!
[1]. Sidenote: As I walked by St. James today, a sign read, "St James Cathedral-Gift Shop". I have forgotten most of when I learned in Catholic school, but I'm 100% sure that selling natty souvenirs in the church is directly reprimanded in God's promotional materials.
Gadzooks wants to know! Where do you eat lunch? What secret spaces do you know in the city? Email us! info@gogadzooks.com