An Unexpected Day Off
Well this is a surprise. I had planned on looking after the children today while the schools in town had an “inset” day (teacher training).My other half is “the lady in the office” at the local infant school, so inset days generally mean the kids are at home but she's at workrunning errands for the teachers, copying things, filling out paperwork, filing orders, and so on. Through machinations of the education system I don't fully understand she is not required on-site today, so has taken our youngest to the cinema. I am therefore home alone.
What does “home alone” actually mean? It means the washing machine is on it's third load of the day, the tumble dryer is on it's second load of the day, and that I have already been grocery shoppingbuying food for children's lunches for the remainder of the week. Fun (not).
Walking into town on week days is always interestingit makes you realise just how skewed the parenting landscape still iswith virtually all parents looking after young children being female.
While making my way to the supermarket, it struck me once more how little interaction we have with each other any moreI made my way to the supermarket on foot, found everything on my list, put it all through a self-service counter, and made my way home again without speaking to anybody. I didn't really interact with anybody at all. I'm beginning to wonder if I actively choose these “least resistance” paths through each day, or if it's just the way of the modern world. Given the choice between dealing with an assistant, and doing something myself, I will almost always choose to do things myself if I can.
I get itservice staff cost moneyso it's in stores interests to minimise staff, but you wonder if this is harming younger people. Our eldest daughter has real problems dealing with unplanned situationspaying for things, asking assistants for helpanything where the outcome is not entirely certain. We used to think she was just shy, but now we're not so sure.
So. What does the remainder of my day hold in store? I'm not entirely sureand that's unusual. Normally my day runs on rails. In many ways returning to work tomorrow afternoon will be a reliefI can't imagine how people that win the lottery fill their days. Perhaps they find things to do. I watched a fly-on-the-wall program on TV about a cruise ship last nighton it's maiden voyage with three and a half thousand passengers on board. Among them were over a thousand people that had been on more than 10 cruises. Some of them pretty much live on cruise liners. Can you even imagine doing that? It would be like living in a hotel. I've lived for short stretches in hotels with workit's notfun.
I remember years ago I lived in the Hilton for the better part of three monthsreturning home at weekendswhile working on a project with work. Before we started the project I had visions of getting to know the hotel staffof making unlikely friendships. The reality was of course very differentI never saw the same member of staff twice, and never had a room even in the same hallway twice. The George Clooney movie “Up in the Air” was strangely accuratetravelling can be a very lonely experience.
Anyway! I have lots of nothing to get on with. No time to sit here typing inconsequential garbage all day. The washing machine will finish in a minute. There will be clothes to fold, cups to wash up, and daytime television to avoid. As long as I stay the hell away from Tumblr and WordPress, I'll be fine.