Sunday, February 11, 2007
Dignified Monday?
Coming off of a long string of gigs and I wake up not sure what day it is. Think what that's like for road musicians and you add in the geographic factor as well. That is, what day, what town, which time zone? Who the hell is this in my bed? I ingested WHAT last night? None of that's ever a problem for me. A stay at home, local musician.But these thoughts were running through my head Sunday morning as I was folding my laundry. I realized, I've almost always done my own laundry since I was about 17. And there are people of privilege who have NEVER done their own laundry. And by privilege I mean either of wealth or of male chauvinism.
When I'm exceptionally busy or tired or both I can put basic household chores off indefinitely. I'm not a confirmed procrastinator. Just a survival procrastinator. A technique I use to break that cycle is to remind myself that there is dignity in all work. I've always believed that but I haven't had to work construction since I was about 21 and still in college. I imagine it's hard to feel dignified shoveling asphalt or putting on a roof in extreme temperatures. So in all honesty, I have to admit I have a blue collar attitude about work but only if I don't have to work with a shovel or a hammer. Or other implements of self destruction.
So I'm cleaning the lint out of the drier and vocalizing this theory to Cathy about dignity in doing one's own laundry, just to make myself feel more enthused about an otherwise pain in the ass job. "Oh," she cracks, "if you really want to feel dignified, I have a whole hamper full of dignity you can take care of for me."
Okay, so in expanding my list of work I would not like to do, I'll add other people's laundry. I also have to admit that septic tank cleaning would rank high on that list. I'm reminded of that by a startling business logo I saw on the back of a septic truck. It said, "We'll take your crap." I wonder if that guy parks his truck by his house or if he has that logo emblazoned on his work shirts. I wonder how he deals with Career Day at his kids' elementary school. "There is dignity in work," he probably tells them. "I suck out septic tanks and I'm proud of it."
I've been accused, rightfully so, of not understanding how most of you feel about Mondays. Because I retired from teaching. But I always thought it was Sundays that sucked because that was the day I corrected tests and got ready for the week. That used to include Saturdays too and that was a bone of contention with my first wife who listed it among other imagined things in the divorce papers. It's easy to forget how hard a job was when you aren't doing it anymore. So I didn't love Mondays but I didn't dread them either. But to those of you who still do, I'm sorry if I've seemed insensitive in the past. Try to get through it by thinking that tomorrow is Tuesday, one day closer to Friday. Have a good week, everybody.
posted by Bud @ 9:48 PM
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