The Art Of Doing Nothing And Poor Bastards
There are two things that everybody I meet these days wants to know. The first is when I am getting back to a job and the second is that what do I do the whole day.
The first question always makes me wonder as to why am I only considered to be working if I get paid for it. I write more or less as much or as little as I did when I was working with a paper but then I had to go to an office daily, swipe my card and I was paid for it so everyone seemed to think I was working. No one was concerned that most of my day was spent playing computer games and sitting in the smoking aimlessly pfaffing. I guess I was employed then, the paycheck and the visiting card gave me respectability and once I said I work with XYZ company everyone was happy. I have tried telling some people that I write just as much as I did while on my job (not to mention just as poorly or just as well) but everyone thinks that if I am not earning money I am wasting my time. The smarter ones point out that if I am doing the same thing at home as I was in office then I might as well go to office and make some money. methinks that the world we live in is so screwed up that tomorrow if I were to die of a heart attack everyone would say, "Poor bastard he died because he could not deal with unemployment". On the other hand if I had a job which paid me millions and I died tomorrow they would still say, "Poor bastard he should never have taken such a high pressure job." I guess either ways we all remain poor bastards in the end
As for the second point as to what I do the whole day. Well largely I listen to music, surf, write a bit, cook, read, go for a run, smoke a little make some tea and watch some tv. Its exactly what my mom did (surfing and smoking apart) for a large part of her life but no one ever asked the old lady is she ever got bored. For that matter no one ever asks any housewife if they get bored. It's also what I did as a teenager (surfing and smoking apart) but somehow it seems that i am the only guy who seems to remeber that. I thought I enjoyed my teens and being purposeless was not much of an effort and a blissful experience. I know what I would have done in office by and large. Bitched about my boss, wondered if the incrememnts would be any good this year, replied to some aimless emails, sat in on even more aimless meetings, gossiped about who is sleeping with whom and pretended that I have done a lot of work and call the wife to say that I am going to be late because I have a lot of work. So i guess the only thing that qualifies as work is a paid do and everything else is a waste of time.
But then I suppose that given that most of us spend more time in office than at home we can't imagine someone else who spends time at home. the only thing I will miss about being in an office is the luxury of having an AC on all day in summer.
PS
Interestingly when most people I know hear that I have taken a break they all react saying, "I wish I could do it." It's only the second or third time around that they ask , "So aren't you bored of this break? When are you going back to work?"
The first question always makes me wonder as to why am I only considered to be working if I get paid for it. I write more or less as much or as little as I did when I was working with a paper but then I had to go to an office daily, swipe my card and I was paid for it so everyone seemed to think I was working. No one was concerned that most of my day was spent playing computer games and sitting in the smoking aimlessly pfaffing. I guess I was employed then, the paycheck and the visiting card gave me respectability and once I said I work with XYZ company everyone was happy. I have tried telling some people that I write just as much as I did while on my job (not to mention just as poorly or just as well) but everyone thinks that if I am not earning money I am wasting my time. The smarter ones point out that if I am doing the same thing at home as I was in office then I might as well go to office and make some money. methinks that the world we live in is so screwed up that tomorrow if I were to die of a heart attack everyone would say, "Poor bastard he died because he could not deal with unemployment". On the other hand if I had a job which paid me millions and I died tomorrow they would still say, "Poor bastard he should never have taken such a high pressure job." I guess either ways we all remain poor bastards in the end
As for the second point as to what I do the whole day. Well largely I listen to music, surf, write a bit, cook, read, go for a run, smoke a little make some tea and watch some tv. Its exactly what my mom did (surfing and smoking apart) for a large part of her life but no one ever asked the old lady is she ever got bored. For that matter no one ever asks any housewife if they get bored. It's also what I did as a teenager (surfing and smoking apart) but somehow it seems that i am the only guy who seems to remeber that. I thought I enjoyed my teens and being purposeless was not much of an effort and a blissful experience. I know what I would have done in office by and large. Bitched about my boss, wondered if the incrememnts would be any good this year, replied to some aimless emails, sat in on even more aimless meetings, gossiped about who is sleeping with whom and pretended that I have done a lot of work and call the wife to say that I am going to be late because I have a lot of work. So i guess the only thing that qualifies as work is a paid do and everything else is a waste of time.
But then I suppose that given that most of us spend more time in office than at home we can't imagine someone else who spends time at home. the only thing I will miss about being in an office is the luxury of having an AC on all day in summer.
PS
Interestingly when most people I know hear that I have taken a break they all react saying, "I wish I could do it." It's only the second or third time around that they ask , "So aren't you bored of this break? When are you going back to work?"
posted by bababull at 2:10 AM
3 comments
