Yesterday (Labor Day) marked the start of my 8th
straight month working in the U.S. Tower Building. The U.S. Bank Tower, as I
often brag to my parents because I don’t have much else to brag about regarding
my dating life (what they really care about), is the tallest building in L.A.
and really an architectural masterpiece. If you’ve never seen it, you can’t
miss it: It’s a seashell-white building that has a large “US Bank” sign on the
top and can be seen from literally almost anywhere in L.A.
Unlike some other areas of L.A., the US Bank Tower is in the
middle of a great area, on the corner of 5th and Flower. Surrounded
by other large office buildings like the Gas Tower, the Wells Fargo Building,
the Paul Hastings Building, it is right across the way from the L.A. Library.
The first 4 floors are surrounded by a scenic Spanish-style staircase complete
with outdoor escalator and a running fountain, and the front reception area is
really homely and talks about the history of L.A.
So yea, I like working in my building. Working in a tall
office building may seem pretentious or unnecessary now in the digital age, but
I do feel like it gives employees a sense of purpose, that you’re “going into
work” every day and there to serve a purpose and that you should do what you
can to help one’s client/do the best job that one can. I’ve been in all
different kind of work environments, ranging from out in the wild at a summer
camp to a school to a warehouse in Duarte to my own apartment in my underwear,
and I must say I enjoy the office building environment the best. To get a
keycard to enter the building as a monthly employee makes you feel like you’ve
kind of made it in life, that you’re an accepted part of society.
Getting to and leaving the US Bank building every work day,
though, is tough. There’s traffic in every single direction. Why don’t you just
live in downtown? One might ask. Ahh, well that’s where they get you to, because
the housing prices are the most expensive in downtown. Veterans of the rat race
will learn sneaky times to leave the office or wait for later and time their
going and getting, but between the core hours of 7-10AM in the morning and
4PM-7PM in the afternoon, there’s really no escaping the horrible monster that
is traffic. PLUS, with Dodger Stadium (capacity 50,000) being so close by (a
mere 2 miles away), Stadium traffic can make it even worse. I recommend just
running to Dodger Staidum. Staples Center is also in downtown, so if you work
in downtown, don’t try to leave and then come back to the game; just go
directly to the game from work; bring your Chris Paul/Blake Griffin or Kobe
Bryant/Jeremy Lin jersey to work and wear it afterwards. Ah, the sacrifices one
makes for being a city-dwelling salaryman (what the Japanese call their
every-day workers).
On a side note, the US Bank Building is also holding an
annual Stair Climb competition, which for me, even as someone who runs every
day, sounds intimidating. Running on flat ground is one thing, but climbing
stairs is another beast entirely. I often start out fine for about 2 flights of
stairs and then dramatically wear down to the point of walking and dragging my
feet, and I vent at the fact that I’m going so slow and not making any
progress. Add to that the fact I have a slight fear of heights, and going
straight up stairs is probably not the exercise for me. It also seems like a
difficult challenge for my knees, especially if it’s a 70+ flight of stairs.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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