#439 Drinks underground

The basement of St Christopher's Inn was silent. I never knew it had a basement and apparently, neither did anyone else. I couldn't even hear the crowds at the bar upstairs as I waited for our table-ordered lagers to arrive, which was good because Rob and I had some talking to do.

Like one or two others of my friends, Rob had recently come to the realisation that he hated his job and couldn't face doing it indefinitely. A bright, sensible guy from one of the country's finest grammar schools, there seemed no doubting that Rob would land on his feet, if only he had the willingness to make any kind of a jump.

To be fair to the poor guy, his current situation seemed like a massive drag. Having essentially been neglected by the only senior person in his office, with no colleagues, no imminent promotional prospects and certainly no excitement or even any real day-to-day pressure, Rob hadn't had a real reason to care about work for a while. That was my impression, anyway.

Rob wasn't sitting on his hands though, he'd made some applications since the last time we met, which I thought was pretty good progress considering he probably hadn't had to look for a job in years. We talked about the kinds of things he'd applied for and looked at his CV briefly. The plan was to stick out the current job for a while and make some more applications. It sounded sensible enough. He wasn't in any hurry.

My sense was that Rob would probably get one of the jobs he was applying for, if he made some calls, expanded his search and kept at it long enough. He'd find some colleagues who actually talked to him, a workload that actually needed real focus and the potential for some actual advancement. Probably. 

I'd keep in touch with Rob. For one thing, he was a friend anyway and for another, our small exchanges might prove useful to our searches in small or even larger ways. He'd already told me about the Birkbeck course. Maybe one of us would come up with something even more pivotal. An opportunity or a perspective that changed things dramatically. Like discovering St Christopher's Inn had a basement.