Wall Street, Ja

Admittedly, New Kingston serves many functions, but it is mainly a business centre, a place of business suits, formal meetings, and lots of money. And I'm in the middle of it.

Perhaps that's my problem. I hate the formal world of business. I hate the lingo, I hate the attitude, I hate it all. I'm privileged to work in a company with a very relaxed setting that makes me feel a lot better. The thought of being intimidated by a General Manager who I only see face-to-face maybe once a month, who nods at me and then forgets I exist just doesn't move me. I like to feel like I can be comfortable with the people I work with, from the bottom all the way up the pyramid. Thank God my company isn't the largest either...

I hate the cut-throat way in which real business and finance people think. I've been to a few conferences with these know-it-alls who have all the answers for 'enhancing the bottom line' and 'niche marketing' and whatever other crap they dreamt about the night before, and I realize I never really want to have that enthusiasm... not for business anyway.

I don't need to go to formal dinners with crystal-ware and hand-shaking and conversations I have to pretend to be interested in. I don't like being called into meetings where everything goes over my head. And that's the reality I face currently, being new to the business world. I find myself thrusted in situations where I'm like a pre-teen in a senior choir. And I feel like all eyes are on me, but in fact, no eyes are on me (because I have nothing to contribute).

The other day, after one of such meetings, I was invited to cocktails at a hotel bar with my Managing Director, several other senior staff, and a foreign business partner. I felt like saying, "I'm sorry, but I have to be home before curfew."

I hate the business world... I'm not fond of it, at least. Maybe a few more years of seasoning will make me at home. Otherwise, I'll open my own patty shop... Crap, that's business too, isn't it?