A friend of mine and I have this running joke called ‘office time’. Well, it’s really not a joke. It’s a reality. Whenever either of us inquires about the other’s day off, only two words need to be said – yep, you guessed it – office time. When those words are spoken, we both diaphragmatically breathe, knowing the other had a great day off. If those two words aren’t said, we then sigh heavily and bid our condolences.
Unfortunately spouses, significant others and who ever or what ever you want to call that person you live with, sometimes don’t understand the concept of ‘office time’. The situation usually involves one partner either not working. working part-time or working ‘from home’ with few and far between visits to ‘the office’. Before I continue I must emphasize one important aspect of this reality. Office time has nothing to say about the stability of the relationship. Really. Every healthy relationship needs individual ‘office time’. It’s a proven fact. Just don’t ask me to prove it right now because, like, it’s less than two weeks before Christmas and I still have a lot to do.
You see – I’m a huge home body; always have been and probably always will be. Will I eventually end up some grumpy old-man-hermit, hoarding useless items in my house? No. Well, if I don’t have a positive change in my life soon and get out of retail pharmacy, I may need to get back to you about that. Even then, my answer would still be – No. Believe it or not – I am stable.
With retail pharmacy, everyone wants something from me – customers, management, fellow employees, that annoying asshole/bitch who wants every fucking immunization he/she can get just ‘because’. Shut the fuck up and go away. And to top it off, everyone’s ‘problem’ turns out to be mine. How the hell does that make sense? I can barely solve my own shit let alone the staffs, the greedy-fucking company’s AND the general public’s panic over Whopping Cough or how the flu going around is some mutated strain not covered by the damn flu shot I ADMINISTERED. Which is, of course, my fault.
Throw a wife and three teenaged kids into the mix. The demands can be … trying.
But with ‘office time’ – insert diaphragmatic breath-none of that matters. Do you know I can get more done in 1 hour of office time than in the entire day when my family is around. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but work with me here.
I know none of this is anything new to anyone. And yes, everyone has their own daily grind / work issues to deal with. But remember, with ‘office time’ – insert diaphragmatic breath-none of that matters.
I could go on, but some of you are using precious office time to read this, so I won’t. Instead I will leave you all with my wish for the New Year – Office Time.
I am … stable. Right?
