I think I’ll start titling all posts that deal with my office “Dispatches from the Zone — (something more specific)”. That way you’ll know right away what it’s about and can skip it if you’ve heard enough about Cubeville here.
I hadn’t been doing my daily card draws for awhile, but managed to pull one yesterday. And wouldn’t you know it, it happened to be one of the few days Overseer popped over to my cube to ask me something and saw the card sitting in the little acrylic frame I use to display them.
Now, apart from his immediately ribbing me about “black magic and voodoo,” he instantly recognized it for what it was. He knew it was a Tarot card, and even asked if it was my ‘daily card’. Hmm. If it hadn’t been for the instant reference to ‘black magic’ (insert eyeroll) I might have been persuaded to believe he had some esoteric leanings or past involvement, maybe through a previous acquaintance or even a family member. Stranger things have happened. I am mildly surprised, somewhat relieved that he did not ID this bit of artwork I have on my desk when it showed up last summer:
It’s a notecard that Beth Seilonen sent me with my Tarot of the Red Jester, and it’s an early version of the Sun Card from that deck. I liked it so well I framed it and put it on my desk at work, and also sent these photos to Beth so she could see. It just cheers me a little to have it there. Right after I got it, Overseer had come by my cube for something and commented on it, but apparently didn’t realize what it was. He did make some comment about the fact that I was not getting my artwork from Target. Whatever. I sort of deflected his inquiries, mumbling something about the artist had sent it to me with something else I bought.
So imagine my surprise when he correctly ID’d the Nine of Cups from the New Palladini Tarot (even though it does say “Nine of Cups” across the bottom) *as* a Tarot card.
The upshot of all this is now I’m a bit paranoid about having my Tarot card for the day displayed on my desk. I know, I’m not violating any company policy, but I’m so used to being completely in the broom closet even admitting to people that I read Tarot cards tends to stick in my throat. I really don’t want a lot of questions (which yes, I know, are nobody’s business and I don’t have to answer but you can’t really spit in someone’s eye at the office and tell them to mind their own beeswax, much as we might like to) about my Tarot interest (ok, obsession). :::sigh::: I guess it was bound to happen.
fillingspaces.wordpress.com 
I can feel your freak-out from all the way over here and I DON’T BLAME YOU. That’s just too, too weird. Godammnit, don’t you hate it when work and real life cross streams like this? it feels like some kind of surrealist dream. Uggggh.
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Dude’s got a past of some sort. I say keep posting your daily cards until Overseer explains himself. He can’t get you in any kind of trouble without admitting that he recognizes this stuff for what it is, and explaining HOW he knows. Hell, if anybody gives you any sh!t, tell them the tarot cards were a gift from your crazy friend in NJ – I’ll take the hit.
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I’m not really worried about that, it’s just it’s a personal thing to me, not something I want to talk to people like him about. It’s more the reaction people typically give when they hear about Tarot, much as Overseer did, immediately linking it with Satanism and ‘black magic’, etc. I don’t think Overseer knows much about Tarot, or he wouldn’t have made the association. There have been a handful of movies that show Tarot cards, it’s possible that’s his only exposure to them. He hasn’t said anything more about it, hopefully it will be forgotten.
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Yes! I try so hard to keep my personal life out of the office, even though I’ve been tempting fate by carrying a deck with me all the time. I’m not one of those people who has family pictures plastered all over. I have none. Almost no one at work knows anything about my personal life. My co-worker that I walk with at lunch time knows a good deal, but our walks are like Vegas: What’s said on the walk, stays on the walk. And Hawkeye knows a bit. He’s a good guy, but I don’t tell even him about this facet of my life.
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I know what you mean – I think religion/spiritual beliefs are an intensely personal thing, and so many people latch on to the most shallow little rituals or dogmas as an excuse to start arguments or exclude people.
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In most people’s minds, Tarot cards are linked indelibly with either Gypsies, Satan, or both (thanks, Hollywood). Since I am not Roma, clearly I must be Satanic since I have Tarot cards. And people like Overseer really aren’t interested in adjusting their attitudes.
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I’ve only come across a handfull of small-minded people in my life regarding things like tarot. Everyone else I’ve meant are either interested in it, or just don’t care one way or the other.
And as for the small-minded ones, some totally relaxed after I talked to them a bit, admitting they really hadn’t known anything about them.
Some people can really surprise you.
They’re your cards and pictures and you have just as much right to hang them in your cubicle as the person next to you does pics of their family. I wouldn’t worry about it. If anything, your overseer sounded friendly and intrigued.
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He was intrigued as far as making the comment about black magic and killing chickens and then he turned and walked away. I wouldn’t bother trying to tell him anything.
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Yeah, definitely a lame joke on his part. I was just thinking more about the fact that he recognized the card. Some people just think they’re being funny, not having any idea how stupid they really sound.
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Is it possible that after making the original comment, he then realized how dumb and offensive he’d come across? Maybe that’s why he then asked if the card was your daily one. Maybe he wanted to show he was (despite the dumb ribbing) that he was cool with it.
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Nah. He’s so sure he’s superior to most mortals, I can’t imagine he ever questions his own actions or sees his behavior as anything other than correct at all times. Most of the time I just want to tie a gag over his mouth.
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*giggles*
I can see you doing that on the very last day of your job. And telling off Nebbish. 😉
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Ugh. Nebbish. He popped into my cube the other day (almost literally – BAM – there he was, leaning on the little half-wall next to the desk). He’s such a freak. He had a reason to come by this time, at least, making a contribution for flowers for another manager’s wife who is battling breast cancer. He’s still an asshat, though. Unsurprisingly, he gave me the smallest contribution.
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That’s spectacularly low-rent of Nebbish, especially considering his own wife was sick, wasn’t she?
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Yes, she was. I don’t know if it was the same form of cancer, but she succumbed to it about 14 months ago.
And then today, in our weekly staff meeting (which I now get to bail out of after the 1-hr mark when the conversation turns to the latest product our dept. is working on), he was, as always, late to the meeting. Most of the chairs were full at my end of the conf. room table, except one between me and another manager (hmmm… what to call him? Sporty, let’s call him Sporty), but it was a pretty tight space on the corner. However, at the other end on the other side were three wide-open chairs, lots of room. Guess which chair Nebbish chose to sit in. Yep, you guessed it, the one in between me and Sporty. More asshattery. Next week, I’m going to sit at the other end, and see what happens, if he walks all the way down there to sit next to me, or if he plops his clown-car ass down in the chair nearest the door like he did today.
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LOL!! From now on, I think you should only address Nebbish with reference to his “clown-car ass,” as in “There’s a meeting in 10 minutes – get your clown-car ass down to the conference room,” or “we’re ordering Chinese takeout – does your clown-car ass want any mei fun noodles?”
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Ha! Yea, it’s my new favorite insult. I heard it on Twitter when someone tweeted about Fox News screwing up the map of the Middle East (they put Iran in the wrong place) and someone tweeted out “Fox News, you fucking clown car”. I just about died laughing, and of course retweeted it immediately.
And if we were sending out for Chinese (which never happens) I think I’d simply forget his order… 😈
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First, I’m soo happy to see that the Red Jester is still adorning your desk (at posting of this blog). Definitely adds a bit of color to your desk in cubeville.
Second… clown car-ass…. I’ve totally got a great mental picture and am itching to sketch it out and you can add that to your desk…. with a tight ruffle around his neck –
Thrid – The better than mortals definitely knows tarot if he was able to figure out the Sun card – I made that card as barebones as possible to just express the feel of the card without all the added imagry.
I totally understand the separation of work and life. Good luck!
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Hi Beth!!
Yes, the Red Jester is still here on my desk, and I still love him! I would love to see your rendition of the Nebbish (as I tend to refer to him) with his ruffled collar and maybe one of those big red clown noses 😉 I think the Tarot is missing one archetype in general: Someone whose soul purpose in life seems to equate to a grain of sand in an oyster shell: Constant Irritant.
Overseer didn’t know what to make of the Red Jester, apart from the fact that it was unique artwork. He did see the another Tarot card I had out for the day, which was the 9 of cups from the New Palladini (I rotate around which decks I bring with me, that day happened to be the New Palladini). He wasn’t clever enough to ID the Red Jester Sun as a Tarot card (for which I am grateful). I guess he wasn’t too freaked out about the whole thing, though, he hasn’t said anything more about it.
Hope all is well with you! 🙂
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