Today is the last work day of the fiscal year at my company. People are running around like mad trying to get things done before the day is over. I find it all very strange. It’s so arbitrary that monies need to spent and projects need to be concluded by the end of the fiscal year, “or else”. There is always a looming threat of “or else”, but I often imagine it’s just smoke and mirrors and that the “or else” is nothing more than the guy behind the curtain.

Still, it made for an interesting week, with people getting increasingly intense and stressed and working themselves into a fevered pitch that can only be described as nearly psychotic.

And yet, somehow, on Monday when the new fiscal year (FY08) begins, everyone starts fresh and all of the stress of the end of the fiscal year has magically vanished, along with all of the unspent money.

There is a lot of humor in this. Maybe the guys who did Office Space should take up this topic in their next movie. Or Dilbert!