Sharing Time at Work

It was a slow day at work. We in cubicle-land were enjoying the quiet time, chatting here and there, making comments back and forth, goofing off a bit.

I don't remember how it came up. I don't remember why. There was a reason. I promise. But at some point in the banter, I threw out a comment about "naked time" and how everyone needs a little quality naked time, y'know?

Now, sometimes I forget where I live and how generally distrustful or uncomfortable people here are of nudity in any form, even the mention thereof. I wish I had a recorded image of the blank, disinterested, mildly disgusted, and bemused expressions surrounding me as I sat comfortably in my chair wondering why the silence? After a couple of retorts of "I didn't need to know that" and "no, I don't know...naked time?" one voice behind me chimed in to back me up. It was Dan. "I totally know what you're saying. I enjoy a little naked time myself." Thank-you. Someone else who recognizes the value of enjoying some cooling, restriction-free clothinglessness.

Mind you, naked time is not, for me, a daily or even weekly event. It's just that there are times when you get out of the shower on a hot day, and the last thing you want is to put a bunch of heavy, sticky, heat-trapping cloth all over your sweaty body, so you take your time getting to that whole "dressing" thing. Or you're cleaning house, and it's hot, so you use the desire to avoid getting bleach on your clothes as an excuse to remove as many of them as possible. That sort of thing. Or maybe it's a ridiculously hot day and all you want is to tear off all your clothes and jump in a cool lake. I've yet to do that, but one day...

Anyway, this sparked a very interesting course of conversation, and before long, we were all gathered in a circle, discussing our own quirks and ideas. We talked about family drama, our quirky tastes, and even OCD and its symptoms and how one of us deals with their own OCD and has learned to manage it in their life. This was a person who rarely is chatty or personal with his coworkers, but it just seemed appropriate and comfortable to discuss it, I guess.

It was quite a bonding time for all, I think, as far as workplace bonding goes. And it all started with a quip about naked time. Sometimes, I think people are more eager to share themselves with others than they let on. *smile*