Chain of Screaming

Chain of Screaming

It's 4:00 PM on a Friday, and the clock is moving slower than a snail on a chai break. There are slow murmurs heard once in a while. I am gradually zoning out from reality and slowly drifting into my dreamworld when a uproarious laughter resembling an water pump jolts me back into reality. I peep over my cubicle wall in the general direction of the laughter anticipating something that might break this monotony. But, it is just an intern laughing while doomscrolling through Instagram. A snide remark briefly crosses my mind but I choose to keep mum as I glance through my email inbox. Each email notification is like a harbinger of doom, bringing dread and anxiety to my peaceful weekend plans. I have been mentally preparing for this day since Monday, eagerly awaiting the sweet release of the weekend.

And just when I thought the universe had mercy on me, my phone rings. It's a project manager, and they're on a roll – listing out product issues like they're reading a Shakespearean tragedy. I try to assure them that we'll fix it faster than you can say "weekend ka war," but my well-intentioned words are lost in the sea of managerial distress. It's a symphony of stress, a cacophony of complaints, a crescendo of chaos. Your dreams of a TGIF Friday turns into WTFriday Fiasco, where the clock mocks your weekend dreams, and managers unleash their concerns (read complaints) like a confetti at a birthday party as you try to avoid your biggest nightmare: work on a weekend. With a heavy sigh, I glance at the clock and see my weekend plans shattering and stomp over to team lead’s desk. Ten minutes later, I find myself unintentionally venting on my unsuspecting team. Cue the first link of the chain of screaming – the leads will now pass on the torch of frustration to their juniors, who unload their stress on their peers. After investigating the cause of issue while the team leads berates their team, I come to the conclusion that it was nobody’s fault (well, a little fault could be attributed to Friday Blues).

In Retrospect...

As I sit here sipping my bitter tea, I can’t help but realise that I could have broken the Chain of Screaming and saved the unsuspecting colleagues from undue stress. So, here I am apologising to the universe for not realising it sooner. My bad! But fear not, I have learned my lesson and know that life is too short to take the Chain of Screaming seriously. Now, I had a choice (which I obviously should have thought about before embarking on a journey to my team lead’s desk to throw my frustration grenade): Unleash my inner hulk and antagonise the unsuspecting individual responsible or handle it like a zen master and stop this dysfunctional relay race before it culminates into a full-blown brouhaha. Mind you, to diffuse this chain of screaming, the corporate knight needs to be armed with the sword of negotiation and the shield of humour. Be ready to face the blowout if everything fails. And if your strategy works, you save the day and that too in style. Alas, all this was an afterthought for me. So next time, a stress bomb like this comes my way, I shall calm the Hulk down and defuse it to break the Chain of Screaming. Work is stressful but what is the harm in making the workplace a little hilarious.

In this absurd dance of urgency and despair, we find solace in the shared misery of office drama. If we're going to have a workplace drama, it might as well be a comedy! Cheers to surviving another absurd chapter in the grand book of office adventures! So, dear reader, grab your popcorn (or perhaps something stronger) and join me in this comedic saga of Cubicles Chronicles.