Why I Never Would Have Made It in the Corporate World
Why I Never Would Have Made It in the Corporate World
Years ago, I was doing a location shoot for a big corporation called ROLM. We were set up in their offices in San Jose, using a massive conference room with one entire wall made of glass. That wall looked out onto a sea of cubicles—classic corporate territory.
The main focus of the shoot was the people seated around the conference table, but I wanted to add a little life and motion to the background. So, I asked a couple of employees on the other side of the glass to walk back and forth, pretending to look busy. I told them, “Just keep walking from one end to the other, like you’ve got somewhere very important to be.”
Inside the room, my small army was hard at work—me, two assistants, a makeup artist, an art director, the client, and several “executives” playing themselves at the table. Meanwhile, our “background walkers” kept pacing dutifully on the other side of the glass as we shot take after take.
When we finally wrapped the shot, I decided to have a little fun. I told everyone in the room—about a dozen people—to stand up, turn toward the glass, and fold their arms. We all stood there silently, staring through the glass, waiting to see how long it would take for the people outside to notice.
It didn’t take long. One of them finally looked up, froze, and then nudged a coworker. The realization spread like wildfire—everyone inside the conference room was just… staring at them. The reaction was priceless. We burst out laughing, clapping, and generally congratulating ourselves on our harmless little prank.
Or so I thought.
Apparently, one of the employees on the outside didn’t share our sense of humor. She went straight to HR to report me. She tattled! Luckily for me, I wasn’t actually a ROLM employee, so there wasn’t much HR could do—though, come to think of it, I was never invited to shoot in that building again.
And that, right there, is why I never would’ve survived in the corporate world. I mean, you’ve gotta have fun. You’ve gotta laugh—especially with the people you work with. Life’s too short to take every little thing so seriously.
Otherwise, what’s the point? Just to tattle on someone for laughing? How sad is that?
BTW – I could not use the real image for concern that someone might want to sue me. That’s today’s world
