I now work in a building in a corporate office park – the prettiest office park you’ve ever seen.  I’ll post some pictures later.  Down the street from me there is a big hi-tech company.  The company has a corporate cafeteria.  It’s a Bon Appetit cafeteria – really good food, lots of variety, specials every day, local produce and a “green” environment, whenever they can manage it.  The food is tasty and very affordable.  Like most corporate cafeterias, this company must subsidize it, to keep the prices reasonable.

The really sweet thing is that this very nice hi-tech company lets people who don’t work there eat at the cafeteria.  The company isn’t stupid – there is a receptionist inside the entrance to the building, so you can’t wander into the offices, but you are free to go eat at the cafeteria.  Now that my group has moved to our new space in the prettiest office park, I eat there a lot.  

What I didn’t expect – the big hi-tech company cafeteria feels like home.  I walk in, and it’s familiar – how the people look, their ages, ethnicity, style of dress, gender mix, how they talk to each other and how they chat with me.  The food seems familiar – the pizza bar, the salad bar, the soups, the burrito bar, the daily Indian specials, the grill, and the daily Asian or Italian saute. 

The lobby feels like home too.  I pointed out the colorful attractive posters showing how (I’ll make this up) – “Big hi-tech company lets people easily book ski trips to Colorado!”  I made up that example, but you get the idea; all big hi-tech companies have those kinds of posters in their lobbies, showing the swell things that your products let your customers do. 

I don’t work for a big hi-tech company anymore, though I still do Businessy/IT-ish/Data-ish kinds of things.  Where I work now is the right place for me to be, right now.  It may change in the future, but for now, I’m where I need to be.   

I know that – but you know, that cafeteria feels like home.

amarez – mszv