a rather official institute

Ten things to try out at the reception desk of a rather official International Relations Institute on a busy day with little sunshine.

1. Mismanage a phone transfer to the director, make him comment on a perdu l'ambassadeur de Thailande
2. Announce to a visitor that the directer is expecting him while the director is, in fact, in a meeting with the public relations officer
3. Secretly fetch Nespresso's from the machine reserved for personnel for friends that keep dropping by, your boss commenting tu fais un journée café, toi
4. Console and support several senior secretaries that are unsure whether they can enter into the director's office while he is in a meeting.
5. In between receiving phone calls, make your own private phone calls to Amsterdam, Lausanne, Vienna, Amsterdam again, Lausanne again.
6. Stick some of those etiquettes on those enveloppes. Try sticking them at a different angle, why not? Go crazy on the sticking.
7. Have an argument with your colleague receptionist. Write the human resource manager a long email about it. In between friendly help-seeking lines, hold her accountable for the messy organization of shifts and vacations.
8. Help the catering clean up after a coffee break of the Official Conference with Officials from Berne, some of whom unintentionally sent a junior secretary into a near nervous breakdown by not announcing their attebdance. Have the catering guy say you can pick a fruit, have a mini-croissant, too.
9. Find a minute to check out the kitchy paintings they put up yesterday, featuring the lake of Léman in different seasons.
10. Tell everyone you're fine. Ca va, ca va. You're fine.