Are you up to the test!?

I've always thought that office work was unhealthy but I was still floored upon reading about the office worker who after working 8 hours straight got deep vein thrombosis. I hope this will be a wake up call to this work obsessed culture but I doubt it. Whenever there is analysis of the longest working days or most hours worked per week, Britain is always at the top or near it, a lot people seem quite smug about this as if it's some sort of achievement to be working yourself to death.

I make it a point to go out on my lunch breaks and have a bit of a walk, a lot of people don't though and what's more I usually get a few dirty looks, as if to say 'Look at the swine, he can't be working hard if he's got a full hour to spare'. There is a lovely little park near where I work and make it no secret that I like to go there and get away from the tedium, upon my return I sometimes get questions like 'Had a nice walk?' in a nasty tone as if to suggest my time has been wasted when it could have been spent working. A lot of them eat their lunch at their desk while working, god knows why as it never seems to go noticed by the management. Well fuck the lot of them, I don't want to be a zombie like them.

A few weeks ago I got bollocked because I was caught playing chess for five minutes on the internet. I pointed out that the smokers get 10 minute smoke breaks so non-smokers should get some kind of alternative. They laughed this off as if it was the ramblings of a mad man. I even later pointed out that it's in our staff handbook that short breaks are entitled, they just thought I was trying to validate having a doss but what they don't get is they're entitled to a break. Where I work isn't even that faced paced or important so I fear to think how higher pressure work places carry on.

Sometimes when it's extremely quiet I'll sit reading for a bit, if one of the zooming drones notices this they'll go mental trying to find work for me to do. I'll point out that im in a separate department to them and my department is on top of everything but they can't fucking bear to see anyone having a pleasant time at work.

When it's the end of the working day I grab my coat and head straight for the door but a lot of people don't even move, they all stay working away, the first time I noticed this I asked someone who'd been working there longer what the crack was and they said 'They'll stay another hour at least, they don't claim for it either'. From this story today I reckon someone in my office getting DVT in the near future is inevitable. When that happens people will be shocked but they'll probably still sneer at my suggestions for regular breaks.