My Love for Outlook

I can bet that atleast 70% of the corporate world uses the Microsoft Outlook or Lotus or a similar package that allows one to send and receive mails. In my first job, a responsibility at work was to interview a new employee every week and write a piece on him or her. This would be circulated to the entire office. It was a kind of ‘Know Your Colleague’ scheme and I called it “Day in the Life”. Nearly every employee I interviewed would have a standard reply of how they started and ended their day at work – by checking their mails.

The ‘You got mail’ feel had managed to get everyone hooked up. It felt kind of important to see mails in your inbox. It meant, all these tasks need your attention. You are required that much in our company.

One would hear of an occasional “You know my inbox got jammed because I dint come to work for a day. Now I have to work extra hours just to check my mails”. I can bet all of you would have heard such remarks. It is a different matter that half of these mails would be forwards, jokes, updates of the latest movies to hit town or other mails that should have been directed to the junk mail category in the first place.

Recently, I had to leave my job since I was moving out of country for a while. Unable to get a job because of work permit issues, I somehow made up my mind to use this time for better things - like upgrade my skills. For someone who is used to working – sitting at home can be the worst nightmare. And so it was for me. But I dint realise that there was something worse. And that was – No Outlook.

It killed me, made me feel jealous almost when I saw someone flip open their laptop to ‘quickly check their mails’ or to ‘just respond to one pending important email’.
I nearly died every time someone did this. I felt like I had no purpose in life. No – I was no longer required. No one wanted my opinion or my help. My decisions – however small or insignificant, did not matter any more. I was faceless without an identity. I was suddenly a Nobody.

I now wanted a job, desperately, just to be able to receive and send mails. To hear the alert sound when one receives mails. To segregate the mails into folders. To look at the number of mails you have responded to and feel that one has accomplished a lot of work for the day.

I never thought I would be infected by the ‘Mails makes one feel good’ virus or experience the ‘Mail depression syndrome’ – but I shamelessly realise that I am one of them. One to be caught in the web!