Due to surprising, frustrating, and (as far as this newsgroup goes)
irrelevant reasons, I’m looking for a new job.
Here’s the cool part: in doing my pre-screening phone interviews – very
comfortable so far, and some good leads – I find myself asking the usual
questions. I’m a programmer, so I ask what kind of computers they’re using,
what software, etc., and then … how’s the “corporate culture”?
I’m looking for the Birkenstock & t-shirts sort, and on occasions when the
HR person says, “Oh yes, it’s very laid back here,” I say, “Terrific!
'Cause I’ve been known to bring my unicycle into the office every now and
then, ride it up and down the aisles, get people grinning, then start my
work” (which is entirely true).
On two phone calls today, the first HR person paused a bit, realized I was
serious and said, “We-e-e-ll-ll-ll, it’s probably okay to bring your
unicycle, but …” On the second call, the HR person laughed warmly and
said, “That’s great! You’ll fit right in here.”
Take a guess which of these two I’m interested in?
Ha! Actually, I don’t own any Birks; in fact, I haven’t seen anyone wear
any in a while, but they still shuffle in my head as an appropriate metaphor
for a “non suit and tie” atmosphere.
Back to unis, though. Has anyone else tried to ride on close cropped
carpet? Almost Astro Turf, but softer (Astro Turf – wink – not a software
company, but the brand name of an artificial, carpet-like grass used in
sports arenas). It’s very, very comfortable.
At one time my company was unicycle friendly, as Claude Shannon, one of the founders of the Unicycling Society of America, worked here. Bell Labs, that is.
Lately not so. A couple of years ago I brought my uni to work and was told by the security guards that I couldn’t bring it in. So I walked it back to my car. And then when I returned, the guards had the cahones to tell me that they were disappointed I didn’t ride it back to my car so they could see it in action.
Sheesh. I would gladly have ridden it to my office if they’d only have asked.
Well, I don’t work for a corporation but for a school district. I am able to keep my uni right in my office and it is so well recognized that on I the rare days that I drive my car to school I am constantly being asked, 'where’s your unicycle?" by students and staff that come by my office.
As for riding it indoors, I must admit to riding down the hallways often before and after school but only long before or after school hours.
I’m pretty lucky that my uni has been so well received by the school and in fact as become my trademark at work.
Of all the surfaces I ever performed on, wet Astroturf has the #1WORST EVER spot. I’m sure the stuff would have been fine if it were not wet, but that was not the case. It was added as “decoration” on top of the asphalt parking lot in which the circus tent was set up, for what was basically a very large corporate event. Many other circus-type acts were rotating in and out of the little ring they had set up, and they weren’t going to remove the wet plastic stuff. I had to borrow the metal pinned pedals from my big wheel (which I couldn’t use anyway because of posts and rigging in the ring), and put them on my freestyle uni just to keep my feet on. Wheel walking and gliding were very bad.
Some carpets are fine to ride on. Generally the lower the pile, the better. Carpets that feel the best on bare feet are generally the hardest to ride on.
jjuggle wrote:
> At one time my company was unicycle friendly, as
> Claude Shannon, one of the founders of the
> Unicycling Society of America, worked here. Bell
> Labs, that is.
Alas, lawyers continue to eat into our personal freedoms. It’s no longer safe for the company to “trust” one person not to cause damage, and everyone else not to get injured and sue in the event of a mishap. Intel in Folsom is the same way.
