Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Beware of?

Working on weekends have become usual to me. I have even raised the question, what else can I do other than work on weekends. Another unhealthy habit I have is staying late in office. And thats not only on week days but also in weekends. So, I am working almost all the time except a few hours I spend in home. With the summer in UK, the sun sets only after 9PM. So I cant even realise that I am staying late. This happened last week, when I came to office as usual on a saturday. The work was boring but there was still a lot of things to do. So I went on with the schedule of staying late. After all, the last bus is only at 10:40 and I can catch it. With the sun still shining at 9PM, I didnt notice the time till it became 10:30PM. The sky has become dark now and I decided to walk to the bus stop.


Our office campus is in a open scenic area with compound walls only on three sides. The area spreads to the hill side at the back. As it was a weekend, the guards have even switched off most of the lights outside the building and I was left to walk about 200 yards looking at very few lights at the other end. I was so relaxed that day, that I was walking slowly towards the gate. Suddenly there was the sound of dog. I stopped my movements and found a dog growling near the gate. There were no dogs kept by the company. I am sure of that. But the sudden appearance of a dog made me nervous. For a second, I thought that I should be brave and walked a step. And then I saw another dog lying near the first one. Oh oh! I wondered whether to return back or wait till they go away. I was too frightened for the dogs looked more like German sheperds. No way, I am going to let the dogs take my flesh even that means reducing my weight. I slowly walked back into the building and booked a taxi. I was amused that I am afraid of dogs anyway. Still i know its dangerous. Who knows what the dogs in UK think of humans at night. Will they just bark or bite. Better to be safe.


The taxi came in 10 minutes and I started to leave. I passed the security guard who smiled and said good night. I wished him Good bye and just asked him whether we have any dogs in the campus. He was also confused at first and said No. Then I told him about the two dogs near the gate and he said it might have jumped from the nearby houses. With little laugh, I said bye again. And he wished back and added a comment at the end. "It might be the foxes that stays at the hills at the back of our office. They roam near the gates at nights".


I NEVER WANT TO STAY LATE AGAIN IN OFFICE.



PS: I couldnt avoid staying late anyway. I just decided that I will take taxi if its gets late. Even foxes are not able to change my unhealthy work schedule.

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