random thoughts – Day 1,749 – (Monday) – pizzas and rainbow

The last Monday of the year, and it included back-to-back one-on-one meetings with two visiting bankers all day. Each of us had 45-minute slots to meet with the bankers. The schedule was interrupted by a midday pizza lunch with our guests. Lunch would take place in our department's fourth floor converted attic space at the long work counter we call the altar. 

Usually during lunch gatherings in our space, half of us end up standing around semi-awkwardly and the rest sit in desk chairs rolled out from the cubicles with plates balanced on knees. It was intended to be a casual thing so the standing and knee plates wouldn’t be so bad. The paper plates and napkins were set out on the altar. Two two-liter bottles of soda and a stack of cups stood at attention.

There was a last-minute change of the lunch location. Instead of the fourth floor, we would be on the third floor in a lovely conference room with an oval table, comfortable seating for everyone, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the wall, and a beautiful Christmas tree in the corner. The windows in the room face Merrimack Street with a view of Ste. Anne’s Episcopal Church across the street and the old yellow Lowell High School building a couple blocks behind it.

Shortly before the time of the lunch, as we were loitering and waiting for it to “be time,” an uninvited, unwelcomed four legged furry little “guest” ran across the floor under the desk of a colleague. It ran out of her office, then turned and ran back into it. At various levels, the three of us who saw the tiny terror of the fourth floor kind of freaked out.

The scurry of the rodent led to a flurry of human activity. The facilities team, who had been in our department just a few minutes before the rodent raced across the place, was called to return. The third floor was called to check on conference room availability, and the first floor to alert the folks currently in a meeting there that the lunch location was moved. The plates and napkins and cups and soda were collected. While one colleague crossed the parking lot to fetch the pizzas from the restaurant, the rest of us prepared to relocate. Facilities stepped off the elevator and we directed them to the last spot we had seen the interloper before we stepped into it and fled for a more serene setting.

After the “excitement” upstairs, lunch was relaxed. We had a chance to chat with the visiting bankers about things like the Lincoln portrait, why it is there, and how this particular room is more comfortable for lunch than standing awkwardly in the department upstairs. There was conversation about theater shows (Grinch and Wicked), new movies (Wicked), adorable dogs and toddlers, and other topics. It was fun. We did not mention the rodent upstairs. Why ruin a nice lunch?

Rainbow over Ste. Anne's.

It had rained earlier, but by lunchtime, the sun was out. A large tan bird flew to the top of a spire at Ste. Anne's across the street. A few minutes later, a rainbow formed a full arc over the church. I whisper-yelled, “a rainbow” and immediately began trying to get a photo of it from the far side of the room. I gave up and moved to the window. This was a casual lunch after all, not a formal board meeting, presentation, or a conference. 

After lunch, back on the fourth floor, there was no sign of facilities or the rodent. Later, one was caught in a trap. We hope that is the end of the case of the rascally rodent, but it’s probably not. It probably has friends. 

Overall, it was an unusual day.