A Tale of the Task Chair

Bostonist is moving into a new office. We’re not changing jobs, but the building we’re in is soon to be inhabited by other tenants and we’ll be moving across the street into newly renovated space. Fortunately, we aren’t without input. We have had the opportunity to help select the furniture and configuration of the new space. This – deep breath – will be our first cubicle experience. Good fortune has thus far landed Bostonist in actual rooms with both a door and window. We’re soon to be the proud new tenant of a cube. But wait, we’re not supposed to call it a cubicle. There are too many negative connotations to that term. The office furniture industry has begun calling the modular cloth-covered walls “Systems Furniture.” After the two month process of 15 minute meetings now and again to approve steps along the way we have fully accepted the phrase. That is until today. The last in our series of meetings held today to cross the Ts and dot the Is. To our surprise and horror the euphemism had been dropped, systems furniture had reverted to cubicle in the lexicon. The one term we thought to be the remaining euphemism in the discussion was Task Chair. As we have been before, we may have been too quick with the assumption. A Task Chair is not a clever disguise but merely a chair with wheels. Maybe it's time to go to see the “Task Shoe Derby” girls.

Update: Seems we were so roused by the term Task Chair that we missed out completely on the father of the cube coming out yesterday to say he was sorry about the whole thing. Thanks anyway, but it doesn't change where we'll be working come July.

Photo courtesy flickr user: judgmentalist