Your day at work

I answer the phone at eight. "Good morning, Pearson's Plumbing." A man says, "I need Mr. Pearson." "Hold the line, please." Then I put him on hold with music.

The music is terrible. After one minute, he says, "Sorry, I have to hang up." The phone rings again. It's the same guy. "Can I take a message?" "Yes. Please change the music."

My to-do list for Monday. One: ask Sara where the coffee is. Two: look up the train times to Boston. Three: type the notes from the meeting. Four: reply to Mr. Kaya. Five: talk to Maria about the vacation dates.

Which one is the most important? Number one, of course. I need that coffee.

Hello, customer service, this is Elif. How can I help? Your washing machine plays music? Hmm. Let me take notes.

Please fill out the form on our website. I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Sorry, sir, I'm not laughing. I'm just really happy to help. What song is it? Oh, I love that one.

Hey Maya! Sorry, I'm in the middle of an email. And I have to work on the slides today too.

Can we catch up at lunch? I want to hear all about Mexico! Now I need to get on with it. See you at one.

It's Friday, four o'clock. I write a note for my desk: "Back soon." Then I step out for a coffee.

At the coffee shop, I chat with the barista for twenty minutes. Back at the office, I tidy up my desk. My boss says, "Very tidy." I say, "Thank you." He says, "You were gone for an hour."

Hi, it's Hande. I'm out of the office today. A client is waiting for the file. Please forward my email to my coworker Pete and upload the file to the shared drive.

I'll make a call to the client at four.

If Pete asks, I'm not at the beach. I'm in a meeting. A very sunny meeting.