Talk Around The Water Cooler

I'm watching G4's "Attack of the Show", and they tease a segment by saying that coming up they will tell you about what people will be discussing at the water cooler next week. I then thought about my office and it dawned on me that nobody talks at the water cooler.

There is almost no discussion around the water cooler except about the water cooler itself, so while at other offices people are talking about Iraq or Britney's panties, we usually discuss why we go through so many cups. I point out that I have my own cup and then my GM mumbles to himself. Sometimes we talk about the green algae growing in the pan below the spigots and there is speculations as to why it's never cleaned. I leave a note for the night auditor, who's a germ-a-phobe and he will clean it in a panic. Beyond that, there are no worldly or topical discussions that are held around the water cooler. The most urgent conversation we've ever had was when we moved the water cooler and then found that it blocked the calendar, which is a colorful "On This Day In The Civil War" calendar that I bought for $2 on sale last February. We decided to move the calendar to another wall.

So when I hear about people talking around the water cooler I don't know if I'm supposed to be jealous or if I should feel sorry for them because they work somewhere that they can't goof off at will.