I’m sure every profession is less glamorous than outsiders think. Except accounting. Accounting can’t possibly be less glamorous than it seems.
Sleazy employee I was keeping an eye on lived in a dump and walked everywhere, which meant I got to drive a piece of junk rental car and sit in a frankly frightening neighborhood so I know all his comings and goings. The dumpiness of the area also meant that popping down the block to grab a quick bite or use a clean bathroom was out. Yes, you can use the bathroom and not miss a guy leaving his apartment, if he walks everywhere.
But if there’s no bathroom, you do what you have to do. It’s not pleasant but it’s the job.
After a few hours of slowly cooling black coffee and nibbles of a lukewarm burrito, nothing happened.
See what I did there? You thought something was going to happen. You’ll need to drop that attitude if you’re going to succeed at this game.
Because most of the time, nothing happens.
If this loser wasn’t lifting vital records during his janitorial shift at a prestigious research facility, prestigious enough to pay loads to get the dirt on the dirtbag, it wouldn’t be worth the waste of time.
As it was, any move he made could be worth millions. Could, in fact, mean lives.
So, I sat. I waited.
Nothing happened.
Nothing except the coffee getting colder and my attitude struggling to keep its head above water.