"It's Not What It Looks Like"

Working hours at the company, at least in my department, are generally 9 am to 6 pm. At one of the most successful and fastest-growing businesses in the world, you can imagine what kind of workaholic over-achievers abound in the office. Pair that with constant understaffing and set goals that affect your quarterly bonus, and you've got some serious late-workers. In fact, the HR department recently had a discussion with us about this. Being that it was in Portuguese, I only understood about half of it...but I'm sure I got the important part.

My boss here, Rapha, is fabulous. But he's seen me work late hours too often, toiling away in furrowed-brow concentration, and now instructs me to leave if it's a hair after 6. It's a kind of reverse workplace mentality. The only thing that will satisfy him is if I'm actually emailing friends or writing in my blog. Sometimes he sneaks by and firmly says "Go home!" with an accusational pointed finger. If I'm just browsing the Net, I blurt out my defense: "It's not what it looks like! It's not work, I swear!" Funny how this is something my boss actually wants to hear.