“I have a ping pong brain,” I sometimes shout as a joke. And if I hadn’t had one already, I’m sure this job would have given me one. A hundred thoughts whizz through my mind, each one needing to be ticked off. In his farewell interview, Jan Smits – now rector – said how wonderful it would be to be able to concentrate on one thing at a time: “I cannot imagine anymore what it would be like to spend a whole day, let alone a whole week, working on an article.” Neither can I. And there are many colleagues who feels the same way. If you want to spend the day quietly typing away, you work from home. Turn off your inbox. No housemates around.
To illustrate, Tuesday’s ping-pong session:
-8.20 am Biking to the office. There’s honking at Emmaplein. What is that share-biker doing? The girl seems to have absolutely no idea how a roundabout works. Used gestures to indicate we’re all supposed to go in the same direction.
-Shit, almost half past eight, the worst possible moment to cycle past the School of Business and Economics. Everybody wants to go through the main gate at the same time, demanding right of way, ignoring any and all traffic rules. It’s an ants’ nest. Once again I’m surprised it all ends well, no blood or ambulances, or worse...
-Reach the office just in time for a meeting with a coach about a potential Team Day.
-Text message to spokesperson Koen Augustijn asking whether Pamela (President) has seen Monday’s email and whether she has time today for a call, because what’s the next step, now that the university has said no to the integration plans with the hospital.
-Email exchange with someone contemplating a career change who wants to do an internship in March.
-The PvdA wants to place an advert for the local elections, do we still have space? Yes, but we’ll have to move some stuff around.
-“Do you have the layout for me?”, an email from Simone Golob, who gets an overview of the newspaper from one of the editors every week, so that she can get to work.
-Colleague Dennis Vaendel arrives at the office. He’s just been to hospital to have another x-ray done of his shoulder. He took a bad fall during a game of football a few days ago. Thankfully, the damage is minimal.
-“Nothing from Teun yet,” says colleague Riki Janssen, who has asked U-Council chair Teun Dekker why the ‘merger’ was given a resounding and unanimous ‘no’. That was never explained during last week’s meeting.
-The doorbell rings: two journalists from De Limburger have turned up unexpectedly. They’re working on an article for the Saturday paper about the integration between the hospital and UM. Can they just ask us a few questions, they need a bit more guidance on this complex matter.
-“I have an answer from Teun. He’ll call at three thirty,” says a relieved Riki Janssen.
-Message from the sixteen-year-old at home: “Can we have chips for dinner tonight? Please... The list says it’s bobotie and nobody wants that.”
It’s only half past one. I need some fresh air. Wait, just a quick message to say that there will be no chips tonight.
The editor-in-chief gives a look behind the scenes at the editorial office