Where Are We?

So this guy walks down the street. Saunters just a bit, slows to look at a passing car with vintage lines, picks up the pace and continues on his way. Now more purpose adds to his step. He seems to be in just a bit of a hurry. Strides are longer, his heels bite the pavement with an audible staccato. He turns a corner and faces a door.

It’s an ordinary door. Wood with weathered panels, but in good repair otherwise. The doorknob is dulled brass worn clean of paint. The kick plate is slightly dented showing wear of many years as well as insistent toes. This is a door that has received hundreds of people per day. Through it they seek treasures of hope?

I haven’t revealed much in these two paragraphs. No age. No body type. No interests. No purpose. Just a guy walking down the street with varying gait. And a doorway that leads where?

So. A mystery. Or not! That remains to be resolved.

What kind of door is this that welcomes so many people daily? Is ‘welcome’ the proper word describing the door’s function? Received is the word I used originally. A stream of people enter this doorway daily. For what purpose? How can we learn the answer to this question?

Let’s walk through the same door. A lobby awaits just inside. The floor is sturdy tile most likely fashioned from stone material. Its color is medium gray. The walls are very light gray, almost white. Lighting is generous and shadow-free. The air is buoyant and fresh, unmistakably the product of an efficient HVAC system. Temperature is 71-degrees and pleasantly neutral to body temperatures.

There is a building directory on the wall listing each floor and the offices or people found on each. Two elevators open to the lobby 25 feet from the entrance door. We scan the directory board and observe tenant listings.

No doctors are listed. Nor attorneys or accountants. Eight floors are shown plus the basement. Aromas rising from below inform the presence of a cafeteria or café. The directory is re-scanned and departments are noted, or seemingly so. But no title for the building denotes an institution or agency with multiple offices.

Noted are these specific listings: paradigm review; product generation; modeling and prototypes; neuromapping lab; network development; production modeling; data systems management; organizational structures; financial systems; planning and development; launch models.

Do we yet know what purpose this building serves? And what of the denizens of this space? Who are the doers and who are the users? Indeed, is there an obvious functional identity apparent? Are their customers or providers? Or what?

Watching those entering the lobby we note a wide range of ages. Probably 40% are female and the rest male. Most ages are late 20’s or early 30’s, but a heavy concentration of 50’s to early 60’s is present as well. Young and old (middle aged!) mixing agreeably. Camaraderie is bubbling; these people know each other.

Lobby traffic again: some people gravitate to the directory but most know where they are going and enter elevators briskly. People are moving around the building with ease and purpose. And routine. They know where they are going and they are working ideas in their minds. Ideas. Purpose. Routine. Traffic flow.

This is not a school, although the sense of that seems to be evident to a degree. If not a school, then, what could this place be? Eager folk entering and moving about the building. What do the office names or departments suggest?

Is this a corporate office building? If so, why not a name on the building identifying the corporate tenant or owner? Why no receptionist desk in the lobby? Why no phones or phone numbers on the directory board, just function names and room assignments?

We return to the lobby and note a bulletin board of sorts. Its information is shown behind a locked glass panel. It has minimal graphics but a lot of words. It shows hours of the building, when it’s open and when it’s not. The hours cover 20 hours per day and they say people are welcome every day of the week, even holidays.

This is not a hotel. We have already stated it is not a school. Then what is it?

Do you know? Care to share your ideas?

April 5, 2016