“It’s that time of year,” Bri said with a wicked smile, and dangled a cardboard cup with indecipherable barista shorthand in fat marker. “Intern training.”
Angela shoved back from the monitor with a wince and reached for the offering with greedy hands. “Bless you. Someone in HR has to know this is our busiest time of year, right? Even my eyes hurt because I don’t have time to blink.”
“Aw, you know how to hyperfocus,” Bri replied. “You’re a pro. Besides, the interns need more help than our usual new hires. Workplace norms and what not to wear and all that. It’s like community service to ensure they become functional workplace minions.”
“I get it,” Angela said, and took a sip of what turned out to be a caramel latte. “I do. It’s a lot to ingest on their part – I just wish we had more time to do it.”
“Good,” the other woman said, and smoothed the front of her sweater before depositing her own disposable cup into the cubicle’s trash can. “Because this year, you’re in charge of intern training.”
Caramel latte nearly wound up all over the monitor. “But…!”
“Starting with hyperfocus. Which yes, I realize I’m disrupting. And despite our request for earlier notification, there are thirty interns waiting for you to start in ten minutes. Conference room B.”
Angela chugged the rest of her coffee and charged toward the other end of the building, heels clacking on the tiles while the caffeine burned through her system and her brain spun like a merry-go-round gone horribly wrong.
Let’s see…no, don’t mention the perpetual caffeine addiction, not yet…start with why. Then explain hyperfocus, then zooming in and out, the need for multiple sources…pattern recognition…no, how to develop a baseline comes first…I should have known she was up to something when she brought coffee!
She slowed to a more moderate pace just before making a sharp turn, smoothed her hair – ignoring the slight dampness from her previous hustle – and opened the door.
“Welcome, interns,” she started, and drew a blank. Thirty pairs of bored eyes stared sullenly back in her direction, most looking lost or mildly uncomfortable under dull florescent lights. “Look, I hate this time of year.”
Oops.
That stirred a reaction, so Angela hurried to finish. “Everyone does. This is our busiest time of year. You’re coming in with a ton of questions right when we have the least amount of time to answer them.”
“That’s not fair,” someone complained.
“No, it’s not, and you’re welcome to tell HR that. Any other time of year would be easier for all of us.” Angela studied the room. She had their attention now, even if a few looked ready to bolt.
“The good news is, I’m here to give you a crash course in how to get up to speed quickly. Do well, and you can make a great impression.”
***
This week’s prompt from Cedar Sanderson on hyperfocus struck a little too close to home! It was a trade – check out what she did with jellyfish over at MOTE!
