The Cube
What I’ve noticed most about working in a cubicle is the twin feelings of claustrophobia and vulnerability. The claustrophobia is no doubt the natural result of spending 9 hours a day in a 7’ by 7’ box chained to a computer and the beck and call of a silly program called Microsoft Entourage. The vulnerability that often characterizes both a deer caught in the headlights and the modern cubicle worker, however, is not a feeling that one would expect from such a small space. The clever architects of this very geometrical world must have known that the feeling of being watched is a strong motivating factor. Hence, a cubicle that is not quite a cube: I seem to be missing a back wall to shield me (and my activities) from the wandering eye of any passerby. And, of course, my computer is positioned at the precise angle to attract as much attention as possible. This must be how a fish in a barrel must feel, except instead of dreading uncertain death, I only fear more paperwork, more paper cuts, and more unquenched boredom.
—Cubicle Girl
This post brings up some of the ideas mentioned in a thread on the academic blog Crooked Timber about the worst possible jobs. One of the commenters–University of San Diego philosopher H.E. Baber–argued what made jobs particularly dreadful was constant supervision, lack of privacy, and forced interaction with others. As you say, a cubicle job–especially yours, with computer screen visible from outside the cube–has those things, with the added irritation that it pretends through its false walls that it provides privacy.
Hence the lure of academia! How romantic, professorship…