Publicity Clerkin' At New American Library Revisited (14)

Publicity clerkin' in the New American Library book publishing corporate office, within the plastic Sixth Avenue skyscraper each day from 9 to 5 or 9:30 to 5:30, Monday through Friday, produced little variety in may daily workday routine at this office.

In the mid-1970s, within the skyscraper corporate offices like the New American Library one (in which lettering engraved on the wall, with the words "Times Mirror", could be seen as you walked through the office door, to remind you that the New American Library paperback publishing firm was, by then, a subsidiary of a larger corporate media conglomerate), besides escaping from your wage-slave cage desk for an hour everyday to eat lunch outside the skyscraper somewhere (and maybe, afterwards, then sit in a park or library, shop or window shop or just walk around on the street), you also got a 15 to 20-minute coffee break away from your desk, to break up your morning; and a 15 to 20-minute coffee break away from your desk to break up your afternoon.

A non-unionized worker for some food vendor, whose boss had won the concession contract to sell the coffee and cakes to the employees at the offices within the building, would roll one of the food vending carts, which contained wrapped-up cakes and buttered rolls, a coffee dispenser, juice bottles and fruits, near the glass front door of each office. And some of the New American Library workers or executives would either purchase a cup of coffee to bring back to their desks or stand around chatting with other workers or executives during the morning or afternoon coffee break.

Becaause I both didn't drink coffee then and didn't encounter any other workers around the food vending cart who seemed either culturally hip or interested in chatting with me, I usually just waited in line, purchased a Danish cake or a buttered roll and returned to my workplace desk for most of my coffee breaks at New American Library, in both the morning and afternoon.

While sitting at my desk, though, I always made sure that I didn't resume doing any work I still had to do until the 15 to 20 minutes were up. But if the NAL publicity director happened to be speaking to someone on her office telephone, her secretary was also on the telephone, and a third telephone call came through, I would then sometimes have to pick up the telephone, occasionally, during my coffee break time.