morning musings

I meet a colleague in the mornings in the pantry sometimes. She is an accountant for a subsidiary of our firm, single-handedly handling over 4 accounts, 1 of which is a profit-making business.

I find her an interesting individual. She is tall, skinny, very slightly dumpy in the hips, and likes to wear a scarf tight around her neck. Very quiet, she rarely initiates a conversation. She doesn't even say hello if you don't say it first. But if you meet her in her church on Sunday, she will come up to you, smile widely, shake your hand and say that she goes to this church. Her brother is a principal of a leading school here.

She also stikes me as extremely meticulous and conscientious, all derived from her attitude towards food. When she makes her coffee in the morning, she'll first pour an inch of milk into a cup, cover the cup, heat it in the microwave before adding hot water (freshly boiled, not from our hot water dispenser) because she likes her coffee hot. Today we had this conversation:

Me: "The lady just now, she is a new staff?"
She: "Yes, she works for us part time on X account."
(pause. she heats milk, i put bread in toaster etc.)
She: (looks at my toast, says factually) "You know how to toast bread - just right."
Me: "Yah. Don't know how to cook, but know how to toast."
(quiet. I spread bread with butter and kaya. She leaves pantry.)

Which makes me think she is well suited to her job.