The Water Cooler

With not really having a job with that office mentality, the gossip generally tends to rumble around through various well-established channels and connections within the lab. Whilst in my old department, a lot of this took place in the staff room (I think as the department were rather thrifty to say the least) whereas over here, a good chunk seems to be initiated or, at least, swapped at that hub of office gossip and chit-chat - the Water Cooler. I suppose having not lived in a climate like Charleston before, i never really had a need to go to the water cooler that much (even if there was one) and so missed out on all the apparent social interaction that occurs there in these big offices and companies (that, and the fact that the water in the UK is almost certainly cleaner than here in the US - correct me if i'm wrong).

Anyway, with having access to one within my department, I find that occasionally, small congregations form - usually for a brief chat and then back on to the experiment at hand. I suspect that the topics of conversation may be a bit too work-related to count as proper 'water cooler' chit-chat - but, hey, we're scientists. So i guess we can be forgiven. However, it DID make me wonder if such a thing actually happens or if it's all just a rumour that spun out of control into urban myth. Certainly, the images you get are of crowds of people hovering round the cooler, almost like it's some kind of idol waiting to be worshipped. Certainly, the fervour with which apparently intelligent people take to watching mindless pap on TV just so they can fit in with the 'cooler' conversation seems to be taking things a bit too far. One of these days, i might just set up a microphone and tape recorder at the cooler down the hall - just to see what comes up. At the very least i'd get some good blackmail material. With a bit of luck!