foreign shift

i am pointed to my new desk for my new employer and shown around th part of th floor that comprises our unit, a labyrinth of cubicles on one of th lower floors of th main mbl building. near th short hall to th elevators, where th alcove with my desk and half a dozen others, th space to another unit on th floor has been blocked by a pile of medium-sized boxes. i could use those, so offer to exchange them for a collection of smaller boxes that are of no use to me

several of my new colleagues arrive with a degree of distant admiration for me. at their bus stop during their commute, they had been talking of th new worker they knew they’d be meeting today, and although they had mispronounced my surname, someone else on th bus had known me from earlier work and had spoken of my exploits in rather embarrassingly legendary terms. i shrugged. i had done what i had done, and that was behind me. now i was here

th co-worker who had been assigned to help show me th ropes for our work here pointed me to th need for me to learn french. th two colleagues who had been on th bus had lapsed into a discussion of how they expected all of our work to last no more than 3 to 4 more years before dropping off sharply, one of th workers demonstrating th expected drop with a gesture as he spoke a few words in french. i remarked wryly of being amused at myself for having missed th trend, pointing out that at my former job all our work had already begun shifting to hong kong and paris, so of course everything else would be swallowed up by mergers with french or chinese conglomerates, with th subsequent work then falling to those who were already handling th numbers for those parent organizations

th worker handing me th french materials seemed curious that i appeared to consider these trends dispassionately, without any apparent nervousness over what it might mean to my own personal future. i pointed out by way of contrast that yes my family had been ever so mildly concerned when i had committed to leaving my previous position although not actually having th new position lined up until thursday of my final week with th prior employer, but that i felt assured i would always find th work to do when and where i would need to do it