Bad hearing

Just now I was heading over to the other side of the building to hit the restroom and one of our recruiters was going in the same direction, about 4 steps behind me. As I opened the secure door between halves of our office he inexplicably muttered “Gracias, Mua’dib”.

Immediately my brain went into overdrive. I got the Dune reference right away; that was easy. But why throw in the Spanish? Was there some parody floating around that he was quoting? Was he just being goofy because I share a first name with the guy who played the Quizat Haderach in the first movie adaptation of the book? What the hell? I hate it when I miss a reference!

Well, it was simpler than that. Not long ago our company suffered the common occurence of an unauthorized person wandering around the cube farm during business hours. It generally really freaks people out. They might be a common crook looking for a laptop to bolt with, or a sexual preditor following a girl from our company. It can be horrifying. So, once the incident is over, humor plays an important role in returning the office culture to normal. People deny their coworkers entrance claiming to have never seen them before. People ask their boss, “Hey, do you work here?” The most common joke is to demand proof of employment.

Glenn had mumbled, and I had mis-heard, “Got some ID?”. I’m a colossal dork.