August 31, 2025

I walked through the cafeteria and spotted my friend sitting at a table with who I assumed to be his younger brother. The two of them were wearing suits and seemed to be talking about something serious so I didn’t interrupt them.

It was now approaching noon and I realized that I had not checked into work for the day. I’d left home in the morning thinking that I could make a quick round trip to the market before having to make my way to work but lost track of time. For the same reason I also did not have my lunchbox with me. I picked up a chicken sandwich and some pasta from the stalls. It was definitely now past the latest acceptable start of the work day and I was bothered by the fact that I didn’t ask for time off when I knew I wasn’t going to make it.