Football in the workplace

Having enjoyed the World Cup in South Africa earlier this month, I have started to wonder if some of the same values and attitudes can be adapted for my life.


So yesterday at work, I was sat getting a customers VOIP package working (making calls over the Internet) and when the customer said he was happy I slammed the phone down and ran around the office with my shirt over my head. At no point, I noticed, did my colleagues run over and dive on me, or kiss me or anything. In fact all I got was dirty looks.

So celebrating success football style is out then.

I tried once more later on, this time doing a cartwheel followed by two minutes of The Robot when I’d finished building a 2Mb circuit from Docklands to Cambridge. No one was impressed and still no one high fived me in excitement at my work.

I may be in the wrong job (or at least the wrong country).

The Ops director poked his head out of his office and told me to get back in my seat so I ran up to him and shouted that it was Darren who had caused this to happen, not me. Surely he could see that it wasn’t me, perhaps he needs new glasses. I suggested this theory to him, as I followed him around the office stopping him from ignoring me. Eventually I gave up and went back to my seat, spitting on the floor as I did so.

Later, when I failed to get a BGP session (techy data stuff, try and ignore it ladies) up and running with another customer, I blamed it squarely on my boss for not supplying me with the right training and because I was tired after having to do my job all year without anything more than every weekend and quite a few days off. I was pretty sure the customer accepted my excuse, so I went off to have a cup of tea and some chocolate (as close to a cocaine and sex party with some models as I could get).

All in all my experiment didn’t go very well.

I just don’t think the English are naturally team players.