Monday, November 15, 2010

A Day Off

I'm off from work today, the product of too many vacation days and not enough time to use them. Combine that with the wife being on her new job for too short of time to accrue any time off and I'm squarely in "use it or lose it"mode. I consider my ability to enjoy the Day Off one of my biggest selling points. Maybe someday, I'll make money off of some poor stressed- out saps who will pay to learn how to "make more" of their free time. The very case that they'd pay to hear such advice essentially destroys their chance to succeed, but as long as the check clears, that's not my problem.

My day has consisted of: walking the dog, hitting the gym, going out for a light bite, doing two loads of laundry and taking a nap. That's it. The last thing it feels like is a day wasted. To me, this is how it's supposed to be. The Day Off is the day where you get to think for yourself, instead of being told how to think. Anyone can be subjected to that. It's the Day Off that always confirms that right here, right now, I'm just fine with where I am.

I had lunch at Baja Fresh today (had a coupon). I got to see a nice cross-section of people. The young parents of two little kids (who were screaming, of course), to the three female co-workers, talking about Obama's recent failures in Europe (Kidding! It was about other female co-workers they hate. Gotcha!). I didn't envy anyone's situation. I didn't wish I did what they do. It didn't make me wish I had a son to eat tacos with. Besides me, the person enjoying themselves the most was an older lady dining alone with a burrito basket and a newspaper. No one was bending her ear over workplace rumors. There was no grandchild she had to enjoy spending time with. Just her and her paper. I was only envious of the fact that she had a newspaper while I was unfortunate enough to choose the latest City Life, but other than that, I'm guessing we had the most satisfying lunch experience of anyone there.

It's on the Day Off where I can really get a good glimpse into what the so-called average person goes through during their day, and you know what? The average person must hate their life. In my stops at the gym, lunch, and grocery store, no employees seemed particularly happy. It's funny that in a state with such high unemployment, it seemed to me that those with the jobs were the unhappiest of all.

This was supposed to veer off into something completely different, and I've forgotten what that was supposed to be. I've been away from this for awhile, so please pardon the rust. Perhaps the strangest thing about my enjoyment of a good Day Off is this: I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow...unless I can figure out how to run that seminar.