My Sun Visor

Every day I come in to work and start my day out the same way. I boot up my PC, plug in my Blackberry, get a Coke Zero over ice (inadvertent commercial plug), update my voicemail message, and put on my hat.

I'm not much of a hat person; you'd be hard-pressed to see me wearing one unless I'm sitting at my desk or mowing my lawn. So, why the hat, you ask? To block out the sun, of course.

The way my cubicle is situated, my monitor sits almost directly under the lights in the ceiling. And they're bright. I find myself squinting. And before the end of the morning, I have a headache. So, I decided I needed a way to block out 'the sun'. That's what I call the lights...the sun.

I've tried moving my computer to a different place on my desk, but the cables aren't long enough. At one point, two of the bulbs burnt out in 'the sun'. For a short time, the light wasn't so bad. You could actually see me at my desk without the hat. But then some guy with a ladder came through the whole building and replaced our traditional fluorescent bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. (I thought all fluorescent bulbs were energy efficient. Goes to show you what I know!) Anyway, 'the sun' is now brighter than ever. So every day without fail, I wear my hat.

I could be wearing heels and a dress, but still, I wear the hat. It could be 10 degrees and overcast outside, but still, I wear the hat. I could have co-workers in my cubicle, but still, I wear the hat. I take it off when I'm leaving our immediate office. And I'd take it off if we had important visitors coming through. Otherwise, I wear the hat.

But I like the hat. It's green, like an old Army hat. And it has American Red Cross along with the the red cross logo embroidered on it. I got it as a thank you gift during one of the many times that I gave blood. So until I change cubicles...you guessed it...I'll continue to wear the hat.