THE story of the Herald building’s roof and its shortcomings is not new.
For the past decade (at least) journalists have steeled themselves to the possibility that, after any given rainstorm, they will come into work and find their desks awash, their notes turned to papier maché and their computers rushed off to the intensive care facility somewhere at the back of the production department.
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The building is old. To make matters worse, it is not one building by design but three old railway houses cobbled together. Anyone who has ever tried to get to the editorial department on crutches will vouch for its difficulties.
Wheelchairs stop at reception, but there’s always an able-bodied reporter ready to slide down the banisters, so that’s not a problem.
But the patchwork roof…
Finally, last week, the powers-that-be decided we needed a new roof and an army of lead-booted workmen moved into the space over our heads with its artillery of angle-grinders, drills, saws, hammers, racks and thumbscrews.
I kid you not!
We never saw them, but they inflicted torture on a medieval scale! And it wasn’t just the noise…
I was eating lunch when I first became aware of the danger to life and limb. Strange, unidentified crunchy bits made their presence felt in my ham sandwich.
“It’s not dandruff,” said the editor, brushing bits of ceiling board out of her hair.
“They’re racing against the weather,” said he who must be obeyed. “We have to put up with it,” he added, leaving by the back door.
Now there’s an idea…
Laptops have their uses.
Once last week’s issue was out, I spent the rest of the week working at home, in comparative peace. A troop of monkeys played touch rugby on the roof, cheered on by the incessant yapping of next-door’s six small dogs.
Then there was the garbage truck, followed by the recycling truck, the postman and the Eskom meter reader who couldn’t find the meter.
And, without the luxury of a switchboard operator, I had to answer the landline myself.
And make my own tea.
And you can’t share a laugh with a laptop, so maybe the boss was right. We have to put up with it.
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