What is this place?

For two days I have shown up for work somewhere entirely foreign and sat down at a cubicle, opened up my lock box and looked inside to make sure my stapler, staples, 3 blue pens, roll of tape and one paper-clip are still there. I do not have a tape dispenser for my roll of tape.

Somehow I got signed up to wear a giant duck suit on Saturday for two hours.

In training this week, our trainer gave us Legos to play with, recognizing people pay more attention when our hands are occupied. The first day, I built a Lego landscape with green grass and a blue sky, and the word "hi" spelled out in yellow Legos right in the middle. I also created a bumblebee, a striped sock, and a candy-cane. She was right. My hands were occupied and my brain was free to listen.

The second day, I built a house, an apple, a striped garage, a medical shot, and a checklist to demonstrate her speaking points. Today, I left the Legos alone, and drew a family on a piece of scrap paper she had placed in the middle of the table for our use, along with markers.

In the middle of the lesson, she said, "Brooke, if you have something you need to work on, just go ahead and go." I looked up confused, and turned toward everyone else who was staring at me awkwardly.

"Im paying attention," I said, "I'm just drawing." I held up a piece of paper that said 'strengthening families' in block letters and the family I had drawn.

"Well," she said. "It looks like you are doing something else."

I put the paper down and tried my best to pay attention in the traditional way until lunch. I was trying really hard not to cry. It was a good looking family.

At lunch, I went home and laid on my couch. I did not want to go back to the training. It felt like a hostile place to be, where trainers yell at you and hand-drawn families are absolutely not welcome. I went back anyway an hour later and stopped drawing on paper. Instead, I built a living room out of Legos. I built a TV, two couches, two recliners, a bookshelf, two lamps and a piano complete with sheet music. The trainer beamed.

Okay, SERIOUSLY?

One paperclip? A duck suit in 90-degree weather? I can build an entire Lego community over a span of 3 days, but if I draw on a piece of scrap paper, I have to leave?

I need someone to catch this drift.