Generally, I think I'm a reasonably calm and quiescent person, but I have noticed myself getting rather angry on a number of occasions recently. Granted, many of these occasions took place in my office, but they still give cause for concern. There is a new recruit who has the honour of holding a position superior to mine, who seems to be going out of their way to make my life between the hours of 9 and 5.30 an unbearable hell. While her predecessor cast a blind eye to me reading books, listening to music and sleeping instead of working, she believes that I should be working at a constant, break-neck speed all of the time. Consequently, she regularly appears in my office to ask "What are you doing?" or "What have you done?" or "What will you be doing after lunch?" Even if I was a dilligent worker, it would be impossible to find enough work to fill a whole day, for the simple fact that there isn't enough. However, this woman clearly subscribes to the devil/idle hands theory, and has me pegged for a slacker (although I think several of my colleagues have tipped her off about this).

In response to this, I have begun walking around the office with a permanent scowl on my face, avoiding eye contact with everybody, in case they want to harrass me about my inactivity. This morning, something seems to have snapped, however. Instead of upholding my facade of silent derision, I found myself getting vocal. For instance, I responded to somebody who called me "Mr. Pleasant" by telling them to fuck off, where I would normally have just mouthed the words. I also found myself getting annoyed with a journalist I met in a chipper last night, purely, I think, because she was a journalist. Anyway, I've decided to blame my job for all of this, but can't help wondering why there was a sudden change in expression of rage. Perhaps it's like that film, Network, where the newsreader announces that "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it any more".

I hope so. I like the idea of pursuing a career as a crusading angry bastard.