rekkidblogga

Getting out there

My colleague was frustrated yesterday while waiting on an article to print. Our work printers are sketchy and he was ready to take a short break but the printer wasn't having it.

"All I wanted to do was take a walk," he said dejectedly as we performed "open this/close that/fix paper jam" emergency surgery on this expensive piece of technological wizardry.

When I was a schoolkid - at all grade levels - I remember trying always to sit near the classroom windows so I could see outside. My thinking was that while I was stuck in a concrete block room with artificial lighting, all the real action was going on Out There where we weren't allowed - beyond the school property, in the world of adults. Yes, they were at work but they were being paid. They didn't have to panic over the next algebra test that they probably weren't ready for no matter how much they'd studied. They didn't have to spend time with people who they didn't like - and who didn't like them.

Now I know that stress doesn't go away just because you're out of school or because you're grown up. It just changes. But was I right on about how it's better to not be tucked away in a classroom all day while life is happening outside? I was. It's tough out there and it's a whole different world but it's good to know that, if you're lucky, you fix a paper jam, print an article and get in a short walk outside in real air and sunshine during the daytime. On your own terms.

posted by rekkidbraka @ 10:51 AM