The Downfall of Productivity

Although I have nothing to do at work until April, most likely, I am both relishing and brooding in the confusing actions of my superiors. Someone, in their most generous and greatest wisdom, decided it would be a great idea for me, essentially an office Temp, to have his own computer with Internet access at his desk. Being grateful for all wondrous boons given to me by the Japanese gods and Buddha, I am having a hard time understanding the reason behind this action. The reason this is odd is because no one else in the office has this privilege, as far as I can tell.

To preface, I did not ask for a computer at my desk, no matter how convenient it would have made the last semester. I had two perfectly fine computers at my disposal merely thirty feet away from my desk. Granted, I did spend a large majority of my time at work on those computers creating lesson plans, writing blogs, reading the news, etc. But I find it very strange that they would buy me a brand spanking new computer for my daily time wasting. Now I am not complaining. I love the fact that I can see the letters on every key and feel the new springy reaction to every letter typed. Additionally, this computer is about three times faster than the other two computers put together. All of this "kindness" leads me to be suspicious.

I have a few different theories as to why a new computer would be given to me.

First, to free the other two computers for the other teachers use. This seems like a logical happenstance. But, the more that I think about it, the more I doubt this possibility. As I am typing this, there are seven computers free in the main teachers office. The idea that my presence on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays would so cripple the computer efficiency of this office as to justify the purchasing of a new, nearly state of the art computer, is ludicrous.

Secondly, to thwart the Tuesday "gaijin" planning day. On Tuesdays, one of my friends comes to my school to teach. On these days, he and I tend to spend the day on the computers reading news, pdf copies of books, and practicing martial arts in the gym. I think that they may believe that our conspiratory huddling in the corner and rapid English use is frightening them. They may or may not believe that the utter downfall of the Japanese Empire lay in the hands of two Assistant English Teachers and their plans for world domination have been coming together on Tuesdays at this particular school. And by giving me my own computer at my desk, they believe that the plans for island domination will not come to fruition. How wrong they are!

Lastly, and probably the least likely, because they believe that a computer at my desk will make me more productive. In some essences they are correct. I no longer have to wait the six seconds it used to take to walk from my desk to the computer area. I also no longer need to wait the usual forty seconds for web pages to load. Additionally, I have been giving administrative ability and as such I am able to run the upkeep on the computer as I would on my home computer. This means that it will remain clean and fast and will not be cluttered up with other teachers' work. This is great. The downside comes from the easy access of distraction. In the past, the pure laziness that occupies the void where my soul used to be, used to stop me from standing up from my desk and walking thirty feet to the computers. This used to keep me productive in studying Japanese as well as reading. With this new distraction at my finger tips, I will need to have much more self-control if I want to remain productive and efficient, in terms of my non-job related activities.

I also run the risk of looking like an Internet rat while reading online comics and watching CNN news.

For now, courage.