Black Tuesday?

I’ve been working in a bank for just under a year now. Five days a week, I sit in my little glass box of an office, typing away while listening to the hum of the trading floor outside. Men (and a tiny smattering of women, usually migrant experts in specific foreign markets) sit in front of their six or eight computer screens, watching a selection of graphs move up and (more usually) down throughout the day. On the whole, the trading floor is a lot calmer than the ones you see in the movies; there’s very little swearing and shouting – and when it does happen, it’s more likely to be as a result of a schoolboy prank than a financial crisis. Every now and then, someone will smash their phone handset against the desk in a fit of pique, but most of the time, the boys play nicely.

So it was a shock when, about an hour ago, there was a sudden roar from the eighty or so guys who work in my vicinity. Accompanying the roar were a few leaps up into the air and a comprehensive range of expletives. Most of my body wanted to run out and go, ‘What?! What is it?!’ but I didn’t think that would be in line with my Ice Maiden work persona, so instead I emailed my friend Joe and asked for him to come and tell me what was going on when he had time. Immediately he replied, saying ‘They cut interest rates 75 bps surprise in the US.’ I was pathetically smug to know that basis points are hundredths of a percentage point – and why a 0.75% drop is significant. And what with all the adrenaline and testosterone flying around, I briefly experienced the sensation of working somewhere exciting. It was fun while it lasted – but really, I think my work/life balance is about perfect right now.

Not for long, however. My other exciting news of the day is that I’m getting a Blackberry. It could go one of two ways – either I’ll be permanently on call, working all the hours God sends, never switching off for a moment. Or I’ll realise that I can do my job just as effectively from bed and swiftly lose all remaining motivation to travel to the office. Only time will tell.