MY FRIEND PAUL

Yesterday I needed to have our van worked on and since the dealership is near my husband's place of work, that is where I ended up. Almost 14 years ago, I worked there too. It is a big facility with many different buildings. As I wound my way through the cubicles in my husband's building, I met up with quite a few people I knew from the past. I was struck by the fact that although I haven't seen these people for years, most of them started complaining to me about the office politics. Giving me specific details of who was mad at who and why they were mad! I began to think they were indeed mad, but in a crazy sort of way!

One of the secretaries asked me if I missed working. I told her that there were things I missed and things I didn't. I definitely don't miss the fights and bickering. I think that I get less of that from my kids! This day was making me appreciate my husband more for what he does. His day starts with an hour long drive with high strung crazy drivers, continues with a bunch of bickering babies and ends with the same hour long drive taking an extra half hour because of the tourists heading up to our area. Somehow he keeps waking up everyday and going to work. He can even find enjoyment in his work. I think his technique is to keep his head low and fly in under the radar. The actual work he gets to do when he's able to avoid the craziness is satisfying.

After eating breakfast in the cafeteria with my husband I made my way to my old cubicle. There I found my friend Paul. I rarely see Paul since he is never there when I stop by but yesterday there he sat. Just as the other people had slipped right back into whining and complaining like they had so many years ago, Paul and I slipped right back into our friendly chatter. As we caught up on what our kids were doing and how our feeble "old" bodies were failing us, I couldn't help but smile. I sat by Paul the entire six years that I worked. We both had our quirks, but we somehow worked things out. As we talked, I told Paul that I missed our fun conversations. He told me that he did too. We had rarely talked about office politics and mostly our topics were light and fun. An oasis in a world of negativity. If I could guarantee that I could stay in that safe little cubicle cocoon I would be happy to go back to work but that's not reality. Its so hard to ignore the bombardment of unhappy people. I see my husband struggle with that all the time. You can't hide from human nature and when that human's nature is misery they are always looking for company.

Thank you to my husband for what he does everyday and thank you to Paul for being my friend.