Dress up and make nice
Put your arms in the air (like you just don’t care). Or like someone who is trying to fix a stupid display unit, mounted above his head, with a century-old safe in the way. I spent pretty much the whole day at work trying to debug something that shouldn’t be broken. Even dragged others into my orbit, and phoned the supplier for advice. When I left at the end of the afternoon, things still didn’t work, and I just didn’t care. End of story.
This was a day with added stress; I was promised to a social occasion, and I don’t usually do things like that. The whole trip. Rush home, put on a suit and tie, find a reception hall in a part of town that I’ve never visited before and make nice. Mainly make nice. Talk to people. Smile. Pretend that I was part of their world, if only for a short time.
And to my surprise, it was fun, after a fashion. I did talk, and smile, and make nice. I did eat new foods (crême brulé is better than it sounds). There were several musical presentations, and tributes to those who have “done their time”. We stayed late, and I didn’t catch a single dunning elbow. Even talked to a (former) student, who thanked me for teaching her how to type correctly (? I did ?). All in a day’s life.
And now I’m ready to power down and pretend that the weekend belongs to me. That final exam is still hovering, and the weather might get to a summer temperature (trip to the flea market, maybe?)
