Friday, October 21, 2005

I have been on holiday now for nearly two weeks. The whole time has been spent at home, I haven’t gone anywhere for any length of time but I have been lapping up the fact that my time is mine at last, just how it should be. No working for the boss just to earn enough to pay my way in the world, but doing things I want to do when I want to do them. I am beginning to feel human again after the long period between holidays which turns me into an automaton – going through the motions with little thought – living by the alarm clock and the work clock.

I find a large amount of people say of their holiday (if they don’t actually go anywhere that is) that it was good but they were bored by the third day and to be honest, they are glad they are back at work. What kind of moronic thinking is that? I cannot imagine that the prospect of getting up early day after day to commit oneself to the drudgery of another working day is in any way preferable to doing what you want, when you want to (within the bounds of your financial abilities of course). I understand some people have exciting dynamic jobs that have a certain allure (James Bond for example has such a job), but for the average run of the mill shop or office worker there is no reason why the prospect of repetitively dealing with recalcitrant customers or sitting in front of a computer all day possess any form of allure whatsoever. How can this be better than doing your own thing without any form of management constantly demanding more, more, more? Do these people have so little imagination they require constant outside stimulation in order to be happy? That the fact this stimulation comes in the form of repetitive and boring tasks for someone else somehow means little to them, and that this is better than having to search their own brain to find a reason they should exist outside their small and usually insignificant job role. These people need structure and routine to survive. Ok, I can understand that, but the fact they fail to create a structure or routine by themselves and have to rely on employers to do it for them I just don’t understand. There is more in this world to discover than anyone could fit into one life, so why would anyone waste that life sitting behind a desk pushing papers and answering the phone?

I dread the fact that come next Monday morning I will have to heed the call of my alarm clock and revert to automaton mode, a dark cloud descends and my stomach muscles tighten just contemplating the idea. But until then I will continue to sit back and enjoy the fact I can stop and actually hear myself think for at least another few days.