The Office
As you might have gathered from the previous blog, my job is pretty varied and a large proportion of it involves desk work. My hub for this is a concierge office at the entrance to the Brighton Belle building.
By caretaking standards my office is a luxury. It has a large desk with a computer and printer, some shelving, a sink and kettle and a separate toilet/cleaners cupboard. The server for the CCTV system occupies space in the corner of the room. Of course, as part of my job is as a concierge, I need to be able to see people passing by and residents need to know when I’m in. Therefore, whilst the room is completely enclosed, there is a large glass panel looking out into the foyer area so I can see people passing by and they can see me. To sum up my feelings about the office, it seems like a bit of an aquarium and I’m the exhibit.
Naturally, I welcome visits from residents when they need me for whatever reason or just fancy a chat. I enjoy interacting with all the characters that live in One Brighton. However, to say it’s a distraction from the desk job would be a bit of an understatement. Even without the conversations at the door (which I need to leave open by the way because the aquarium feels more like a sauna, with the CCTV server going 24/7 and there being no ventilation), there’s non stop traffic through the foyer area during the week, with the construction company still on site, the residents mail boxes directly opposite and delivery men dropping off parcels. I am on display whenever I’m trying to get work done.
There is a settling in period at the moment for residents. New people are moving in all the time and with each new arrival come new questions either by phone, email or in person. Questions like, “Why doesn’t my washing machine have any water in it?” and “Why can’t I park my car here, the letting agency said it was fine?”. I know that things will eventually calm down and people will become accustomed to living in a new development with a new philosophy. Perhaps I’m just being impatient to get my teeth into aspects of One Brighton where I can apply my knowledge more directly.
I much prefer interacting with people when I’m outside, sweeping the grounds or whatever job I happen to be doing at the time. I have the most useful conversations and I learn a lot about the people who live here when we’re outside and a natural exchange develops. I learn what people do for a living, why they moved here, what their interests are, who else they know and whether they know their neighbour. I’m learning that despite the difficult encounters I might have, there are so many decent people who live here. I met a lady about a month ago who lives in an apartment in the Pullman Haul block, she had found out that I had run the Brighton marathon for Cardiac Risk in the Young the previous week and congratulated me, she then took two pounds out of her handbag as a donation. Such kindness isn’t unusual. That’s something I need to remember, wherever I might be.
I’ve been asked to design the new office for the Green Caretaker of a new One Planet development to be built in
