Never Wear White to Work

People, come on. If one more person asks me where I'm doing my work experience I think I'm gonna cry. I have answered about 500 individual questions, posted it on Facebook at least 10 times and I'm pretty sure when y'all came to my house that time (you know who you are) I gave you the update. It's the frickin' Stock Exchange, ok?! The London Stock Exchange. And now, because of you, I'm gonna have to tell EVERYONE what/when/how it's going.

So basically, I managed to land a 1 month placement at the London stock Exchange Legal Department. Relevant Experience: tick. Contrary to (apparent) popular belief, there is no longer a trading floor with half-crazed white-collar men running around shoving slips of paper in each others' faces yelling stock prices like fruit-hawkers in an East London market. "No, everything's computerised nowadays", I heard the security guard telling a group of giddy Japanese businessmen. It's all quite quiet in the office in fact, at least now that the Olympics are over.

If you're looking for a good graduate employer, I would recommend these guys actually. No matter what department you're in, the grads are all good mates, and the office is open plan and informal. Everyone works hard[ish] and the hierarchy system seems to be loosely based on the heads of departments having glass-screened offices connected to the larger office, with their doors always open and them popping their heads out for frequent, non-work related chats. V cool. Dress code is also decidedly tie-less and the ladies dress in a semi-formal semi-cas manner, obviously earning the type of dough that allows you to wear New Collection Banana Republic to work every day.

Depending on your desk, you get quite a nice view.
This is St Paul's Cathedral from my current desk

I'm not too sure about the lack of privacy though. Everybody seems to spend some time going for walking breaks, browsing the net or lolling about chatting, but as I write this post (at work) I still cast my eyes about nervously. Especially as I sit with my back to my supervisors. Hmmmmm. Still, I work hard when I have tasks to do - it's my lack of law degree that keeps me noticably un-busy at intervals.

I'm just soooo tired though. Like, every day. Thank god I'm doing at least a one-year postgrad as I am so not ready for the real world yet. At 21 years old I may be an adult, but I am not a grown-up. I've also decided that I'm gonna be good (because, you know, I'm still on dat China ting) and take Chinese classes to keep my level up before going back to uni. Of course, the only ones available to me are on a Tuesday evening from 6:45 till 8:45. Yay exhaustion! You people will be lucky if I don't have heart failure before September, let alone post another...post. Lord knows how my mother does it.

By the by, if you're wondering what the title of the post is in reference to, it's basically pointing out that, as a brown person, it is impossible to wear a white anything to work without discovering some brown on it when you take it off. It doesn't matter if you apply your make-up before/after/during the dressing process, whether you NEVER touch your face with your hands (and I mean ever), or if you don't eat anything for the entire day (food can be brown too). It irks me. I'm glad that, as a brown person, I can rock bright colours of all shades [from fuschia to mustard, if you will] at all times. If you are a male, however, a white female - or even a brown female who wears makeup and will continue to wear white because she can - please, do, continue to wear the white shift dresses and shirts I covet. For those brown people who insist on wearing white, be careful - a semi-permanent stain is only a smudge away.

Edi xxx