I have to let out a little steam so bear with me.

My building at work has been taken over by a large corporation thus my office must move in the near future. Spaces were looked at (by the higher ups) and a place was found that would "best suit our needs." Well staff got to tour this new space and to say I was unhappy about the situation would be an understatement.

My agency has less than 10 staff members, some of whom work out in the community so staffing has always been an issue as we need 2 people on site in order to see clients. Whomever picked this new place did one hell of a job let me tell you. Our meagre 10 staff are now spread out over 3 different floors.......yes you read that correctly 3 different floors and this new place is absolutely enormous. Not only is that an issue, but the few offices that are on the same floor are actually spread out sooooooooo far down different corridors and hallways that it would completely impossible if someone was attacking any one of us to run and get help.

We share many of the same clients and in our current setting it's quite easy to walk a foot and speak to a coworker about such and such a case or "hey so and so is here do you have a minute to meet with them." Oh and what about the time I had this 6 foot man standing over me screaming so loudly that my coworkers could hear it through my door. They called to see if I was alright and stood watch outside to make sure nothing else happened. I guess I'm on my own at this new place.

Oh and did I mention all of the outside doors will be locked in this new gargantuan building and we won't really have a reception area so clients will have to buzz their worker to come and get them at one of the many entrances......that's assuming they are literate and that they actually show up on time which is a rarity. Why just today my 2:30pm appointment showed up at 9:30am. And if I happen to be sick that day just who does my client buzz.....what about if a client is going to run in on their own time to pick something up when they get a chance sans appointment.....who the fuck am I going to leave the item with. "oh try so and so's buzzer and if you don't get them then try this person and oh if they're not in you can take the bus back home and come back another day." Currently I just tell them to pop by whenever they can and whomever is at the front will give them their item which I leave in the "outgoing" box.

Safety is first and foremost a huge huge huge issue as well as the lack of a receptionist (she will still be answering the phones). Our counsellor can't just tell someone to "hold on" in the middle of a session while she lets her next client in "oh your dad raped you when you were ten, can you just hold that thought I'll be right back."

This is going to be a nightmare and I can't even imagine staff morale not to mention how autonomous we will all become. I probably won't even see my coworkers for days nor will I even know if anyone else is in the office with me.

I know I know, change can be good and we should all embrace it, look at the positives yada yada. I'm sure the higher ups will look into some type of panic button etc, but that's not going to make me feel any better when I'm on a mile long floor all by myself and someone has decided to stab me. Nor will it be a treat when I'm in court saying that so and so didn't show up for their appointment and so and so tells the judge that yes in fact they were there, they just couldn't get into the fucking building.

Oh and did I mention that it's an old smelly church!! I am absolutely livid right now!