Sensitivity

The other day, one of the guys in my team sent round an email asking if anyone was interested in a 25km cycle for charity. One of my managers (I'm loosely managed by three or four people) then replied, suggesting that maybe we should make it a team event. I replied to all with the only thing which came into my head at the time:

"BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Some of the other contractors cracked up for a while. Apparently that's not the kind of thing a professional contractor should do. Oh well, he took it well enough.

So this week the office is playing a big game of "Make Christian Feel Bad", the big manager sent round an email trying to entice more people into it, telling the story of the guy who he used to sit opposite, whose life was saved because of a large donation by a group to the Leukaemia charity this ride is for. And apparently he was lucky, as others he knew died waiting for a match. "So don't think it doesn't happen."

Following that has been a string of emails from people with excuses for why they're not doing it. Included was some crappy excuse about Austin's wife having his child this weekend and a bunch of other shit. All, of course, pledging donations to the charity.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here thinking about how on the weekend, Liz, me and our flatmates will play tricks on each other to try and convince each other to go to the shop. The shop we live *above* I should point out. Frequently, when somebody finally goes down, they're back up before a single ad has finished playing, but not one of us relishes the thought of doing it.

Then I think about my life at the moment, and how Ipswich is the bane of my existence. I have to pay rent in two cities, spending five days and four nights a week away from my girlfriend in a city with fuck all night life and nothing interesting to do. A city where late night shopping is in fact on Thursdays, but only on the five or six Thursdays before Christmas.

Then I think about how bad I feel about how about mocking the idea of getting some exercise to make somebody else's life a bit easier. I think about how much I'd like not to look like a jerk to the people I work with and about how beautiful and sunny Suffolk is and the beautiful sea views and great camaraderie.

So they'll be getting ten quid and a slap on the back and consider themselves lucky.