In yet another Benelux State - this time in Antwerp, Belgium - fighting the consultant's fight. I don't know how much this job suits me. The first hurdle you have to jump through when you show up at an "operational entity" (code language for "people who do things") is to simultaneously deflate the obvious feelings of hostility and disdain all self-respecting operational employee feel towards the outside consultant showing up to "ask lots of questions and get them into trouble with their distant lazyass (non-operational) superiors without knowing anything", and to avoid being taken for a complete fool in the process. I am on my own this time, which means that I cannot play the good cop all the time. I want people to think I am nice so I act like a girl who just happens to be here by accident, doesn't want to be here any more than them, and is very sympathetic to their concerns. At the same time, I can tell that they are feeding me some fairytales and I can sense that they are told to close the ranks and pretend that everything is perfect for fear of being questioned or bullied in the future by the unknown higher powers. It is quite a delicate ground to tread on: I have to ask pretty personal questions (inasmuch as your daily work activities are a personal matter) from people who have been stuck in unbelievably tedious jobs for years, even decades. The fifty-ish, chainsmoking lady I just spoke to this morning has been here for two years longer than I have been alive! She has witnessed and participated in the evolution of the "supply chain" (simply put: sale and delivery of products you manufacture) from the time of the (then modern) punchcard systems to the super complicated SAP softwares of our day. This of course I find depressing. Even so, I prefer speaking to people like her than hanging out with our clients in Paris.

(Antwerp by the way is quite pretty and it is full of trendy bars and restaurants. I had dinner at a cafe last night on my own and was happy to get confirmation from the friendly waiter that I can still pass for a twentysomething student. It is silly but true. The 30th birthday does change your perspective on things even if I know full well that I had no reason to feel any differently three weeks ago. My analysis on that will be for a later post.)