episode003 – Priority Rerouting Complete

Fancy shoes and suits and pantsuits smelling of cologne and perfume and toxic optimism crowded the 2nd floor lobby. Today the GACIS Education Division was hosting its annual School Administrator Inservice, and first on their agenda: a tour of the building. Palin hadn’t forgotten, but he had been in denial.

“Damn you Jen,” he muttered.

“Priority rerouting from four to two initiated.” Her ping came after the fact, and was followed immediately by: “priority rerouting complete.”

“Oh good, they found you.” Gerry, Director of the Education Division, at the head of the tour group, flashed big white teeth and blocked the doors open. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of our MTS Team Leads. There are—” he counted on fingers “—six of y’all?”

Palin nodded.

“Six leads of the Managed Technology Services division,” Gerry announced. “Any problem you have? They fix it. They work up on the 4th floor, and statewide, what—” he waved Palin out of the elevator “—another twenty or thirty?”

Palin gave an amicable shrug.

Gerry leaned in and whispered, “say, a bit of Inservice on the new coffee maker after you’ve got it setup would be great.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but waved the tour group on.

Inservice was a fancy word schools used to describe adults spending time learning stuff. Palin wondered, not for the first time, what it must be like to work in a field where learning new things every day wasn’t, as grandpa used to say, part-and-parcel.

“Each Lead runs a dynamic matrix-style team”—Gerry’s voice faded as his tour strolled down the hallway—“that may, depending on project, include any number of specialists. Oh, and on your left is the division manager’s lounge. Notice the new coffee maker, part of the FY36…”

It used to be Palin traveled enough he could schedule trips while fancy people like The Board and The Statewide School Administrators Council were visiting the office. On trips, especially to rural Alaska, he avoided any of that pomp and circumstance. On trips he rode in float planes and on the back of Sam’s uncle’s cousin’s snow machine. On trips he made decisions on his own, and wore sensible shoes. But over the years, as GACIS grew, there were fewer trips and more and more fancy people in the office.

“New ticket,” Jen announced in his ear. “Priority: High. Assigned by: R.Stone. Acceptance criteria: new coffee maker integrated on the network and fully functional.”