How the Other Half Lives

I don't have a lot of meetings with my job and only a very few take me out of the office. If I do have to travel to other offices they are often state offices that have the same shabby decor and hand-me-down furniture as ours. Those people who say that the state wastes taxpayer money should see some of the state office buildings. Trust me when I say we don't waste much on decorations. 

But my meeting today took me out to our advertising agencies office. And I'm pretty sure I'm in love. First and foremost the office was interesting, with pictures on the walls and beautiful furniture. The environment was casual and the CEO even wanders around in jeans. I was introduced to him by name and then told he was the CEO. I thought he was one of the photographers. Jeans and a polo was the standard of dress. I felt well overdressed in my dress slacks and untucked dress shirt.

But the perks of being creative and working for a private company don't end with just casual clothes and nice furniture. They had a courtyard with wireless so the staff could work outside on nice days. They had  beautiful breakroom with many vending machines and a platter filled with fresh fruit. I was brought a Diet Coke as I sat down. Then after the meeting I got a tour of the exercise room, the idea board (place to hang creative ads), and the production areas. The offices had painted walls that weren't just white. And their lowly production area (where ads are matted and laminated) had better furniture and decor then my office will ever have. 

So needless to say I was enamored. I'm not sure if a librarian has a place in an advertising agency but I'm sure going to find out. So far in my job history I have only worked for one private company. The rest of the time I have worked for the county or the state. Now the pension is fabulous but the office conditions are certainly not top-notch. Most of the time I'm okay with that. Today well...I wouldn't mind having a nice chair once in my career.