The new building (or not so new)

In the fall, Company X moved into a new building, not too far away from our previous location. When we moved in, there was still a few months of construction left in our lives. Picture an open area like Costco but with office walls (not cubicles). Imagine, if you will, the constant hammering, drilling, sawing, beeping, pounding of tools and machinery for three months. Then imagine being able to hear the person 3 feet away, not the person 10 feet away, but conversations 30 feet away. Imagine when you are on the phone with a client and they yell at their counterpart for being so loud but it's your construction that's loud. Imagine how the client can't hear you over the aforementioned sounds. Imagine that for months. And the dust, though the air is filtered better than most homes and probably hospitals. But I think the best day of all of that was when they were installing the flooring in the executive area. Bamboo floors - BAM! (pause) BAM, BAM, BAM (pause) for about 5 hours.

After all of that imagining, imagine with me one more time... a cool looking open area where there are no cubicles. There is a cafe and a gym. Not many companies have that. I suppose it was worth the pain. My ears have adjusted to the sounds of my co-workers 30 feet away and there is no longer construction. It is brightly colored. Though we can't hang any pictures, we do have plants and $350 bean bags (about 10 of them). I have worked in much worse places.