I am basking in the glorious light of day. For I have been missing it. I started my new job this week, and so far so good. I'm enjoying it, it's pretty busy and not overly difficult. The girls I work with seem nice enough, and working in a mall has its benefits. There is tons of ways to kill time before and after work when the bus gets me there to early, or I get off before a bus is due. However, I am missing one thing. And that's the sun.
Sure the mall has skylights in the corridors, but I don't spend my time out there
. I am in a store, with not a hint of daylight inside. So on those days when I am working for open, I leave home at 8am. The sky is dark, the sun still low beyond where I can see it. The sky is dappled with pink hues. It is beautiful, but also kind of strange. I watch the shades of pink, purple and red change slowly in the sky as I sit on the bus. At the mall, I get off the bus with other mall employees. Upon entering the mall, the only things open yet are the two coffee shops. Yet the mall is already bustling. There are groups of seniors gathered in the food court. There are cleaning staff busy scrubbing tables. There are old ladies hanging up their coats, and going for "mall-walks". I feel as though I've stumbled upon something I shouldn't have. A secret world of after-hours mall life. Soon after my arrival, things begin to change. The mall fills with the sound of the radio, stores open their doors, staff returns from the coffee shops to their places of work, we are open for business.
. I am in a store, with not a hint of daylight inside. So on those days when I am working for open, I leave home at 8am. The sky is dark, the sun still low beyond where I can see it. The sky is dappled with pink hues. It is beautiful, but also kind of strange. I watch the shades of pink, purple and red change slowly in the sky as I sit on the bus. At the mall, I get off the bus with other mall employees. Upon entering the mall, the only things open yet are the two coffee shops. Yet the mall is already bustling. There are groups of seniors gathered in the food court. There are cleaning staff busy scrubbing tables. There are old ladies hanging up their coats, and going for "mall-walks". I feel as though I've stumbled upon something I shouldn't have. A secret world of after-hours mall life. Soon after my arrival, things begin to change. The mall fills with the sound of the radio, stores open their doors, staff returns from the coffee shops to their places of work, we are open for business. The day passes, not to slowly nor overly quickly. I do my job. I take my break. I come back and work some more. The time comes when I get to make my way home. The last time I was outdoors, the sky was dark. I leave the mall, and the sky is dark. The sun again is low in the sky, already gone down below the visible horizon. Clouds in the sky form a barrier. Pitch black envelopes most of the world, except for a small band of brilliant green down in the east. It is beautiful. I board the bus, and once again I watch the sky twinkle with the colours of twilight. I am glad that sunsets and sunrises here are beautiful, because it almost makes not having seen the light of day worth it.
1 comment:
I empathize one hundred percent -- it's a weird way to live. When I leave the house, it's still dark, and when I get off work, it is starting to get dark. I have one brief busride of "daylight" but by the time I get off the subway, it's dark again.
Sometimes, in the afternoon around three o'clock, the sun will slant in the windows of the offices that line the edges of my floor. I have been know to roll my chair out of my high-walled cubicle in order to sit in the 'hallway' to soak a little of it up. If it weren't so cold, I'd go stand outside the building on a "fresh-air break".
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