Short Story: Cooler

An ode to the Water Cooler Conversations

He watched the latest show that everyone was talking about. He watched it in one gulp. But the next day the water-cooler conversation had shifted completely. And when he brought it up that he’d binged the show, they all shrugged and shuffled back to their desks. So he worked from home the rest of the week and watched more shows, all the shows, every single show. But when he got back halfway through the next week the water-cooler had been removed completely. Too many had worked from home. And so it was deemed an unnecessary expense. So he sat at his desk carving his initials into it, and various bits of graffiti, with a knife from the kitchen.

A week later the water-cooler was back. But no one mentioned any TV shows ever. It was head down. And fill your cup. It was ‘how’s your day going?’ And ‘Did you finish your TPS report yet?’ And ‘How about them All Blacks eh?”

His desk had reviews of every show carved deep into the wood. And while the others had their water break, he would read them aloud to an empty office pod.

But he could never remember the name of any of the shows, so the words all blurred, mixed in a slurry. But he raved about most things. Even though no one was listening.

The truth is he had stopped watching anything months ago actually. All of his time spent writing words in support of the shows he had no time to watch. And all of that other work still there to be done.