Full-time work has its share of idle moments,
specially in an industry as cyclic as advertising. When there's
work there's too much work, when there's no work, it's a job to
pass the eight hours a day without letting your mind rot.
My boss had a hearty laugh at this light-hearted look at creative
ways of passing time when there's no work but you're stuck in the
office eight hours a day.
Wake up in the mornin', not a moment to waste
Hurry over breakfast, join the goose chase
Catch a bus at nine and dash down the road
Reach the office on time, sign in on the dot
Don't you know,,, there's a whole lot of nothin' to do.
Got a whole lot of nothin' to do
Got a whole lot of nothin' to do
Work hard at doin' no work
There's a whole lot of nothin' to do.
You can dawdle, you can doodle,
You can flip through magazines,
There are crosswords, there are puzzles,
Come on and sharpen your brain,
it's a fiesta of pfaffing, a bonanza of laffing
A banquet of PJ's*
Can't believe we're getting paid to do this,
Don't you know… there's a whole lot of nothin' to do.
Don't hurry over lunch, keep busy over tea
Have an overdose of PC**
Wallow in a music sea, as the minutes stretch by
Like a rubberband gone berserk
Devour piles of books, chew and digest, don't just look,
Don't you know… there's a whole lot of nothin' to do.
When you're gettin' bored to tears, minutes age
you by ten years;
It's a new way, you'll agree, for folks to make a livin'
You're an expert at thumb-twiddlin',
At kite-flyin', fair to middlin'
Scribbling letters, overdue,
Making endless trips to the loo,
Don't you know…there's a whole lot of nothin' to do.
Just how long will this go on?
Heaven knows, it's been too long
Had enough of havin' a ball
Snatching dozes, yawns and snoozes
Got to get away from it all,
Between chai*** and chats and muses
Can be bloomin' nauseatin'
Why waste time doin' nothin'?
Don't you know… there's a whole lot of livin' to do!
* PJ's - poor jokes **PC - polite conversation
*** Chai - Hindi for 'tea'
Trixie Asirvatham has an MA in Psychology from
the University of Delhi and a Diploma in Advertising from Xavier Institute of
Communications, Bombay, India. She has 20+ years of experience in Advertising
Copywriting and Creative Management at leading advertising agencies in Delhi
and Bombay, from Hindustan Thompson Associates to Chaitra Leo Burnett, Ogilvy
& Mather and MAA Bozell.
Trixie enjoys reading, singing, playing the piano and guitar,
writing skits and organising family entertainment programmes. Presently she
works as a freelance copywriter.
