10 to 7

It’s 10 to 7 in the evening. And I happen to be in one of those industries where you can never say with confidence if your day is about to end or begin. Whether you’ll go home in your usual state of desperation or whether things will get worse. Advertising, for all its shortcomings, is pretty good on that count. It’s full of surprises. So ladies and gentlemen, in a world where every wannabe toilet graffiti artist migrates to the net under the fine façade of blogging, here’s one more. An unadulterated assortment of attitudes, pretences and feelings. Some genuine, some make-believe. Not in the distant hope of getting rejoinders. (I get more than my share of those on a daily basis!).

It’s 7 now. I can hear faint murmurs from the adjoining room where my boss is having his seventh discussion of the day on one of our latest clients. He has just finished writing his campaign. That’s his idea of rescuing the world from all its calamities. And something tells me the client is beginning to be impressed. Watch out guys, a televised disaster is coming your way. And if I stick around, I’ll be his next victim. He’ll quietly motion me to his room and explain his outdated, recycled-to-the-zillionth-time idea. And I’ll be forced to give him my well thought out, earth-shattering suggestion. “I think we can change the background colour from pale blue to lilac”. “Or mauve”. Before such a tragedy occurs, lemme make the smartest move that I’ll be making today. Leave.