Where Are You? When Are You Coming In?

This is one of those holidays I have strong feelings about. There are certainly a lot of pros, like the fact that Thanksgiving has become a defacto four-day celebration. I remember a time when there would always be a big question…I’d have to negotiate to get that cherished Friday after the holiday off.

Some of my fellow Gazette employees would put on their ties and soldier in to desks without ringing phones, and filing, and others like me would figure out a way to not come in and then get looks on Monday.

Those days of working in the cube at the paper always included that age-old struggle…what time are you going to be here, and how come you’re late? If there is just one thing about working ‘for the man’ it’s that question, that demand, why are you late, are you coming in?  I always dreaded the big guy asking about that.

These days nobody ever asks me if I’m coming in, nobody calls and wonders about whether I’m working this cherished Friday after Thanksgiving, and no one inquires about why I do anything. It’s chillingly liberating. I was driving with my 27-year-old son yesterday when we talked about this. The only thing that I have that the salarymen don’t have is a payroll. This can be a burden and can cause anxiety if the funds to back it up aren’t there.

But all in all, after you work for yourself you realize that there is no other way to go…and that the people who make the biggest bucks of all are all self-employed.  For me, the money isn’t the reason it’s the simple freedom of flying off somewhere fun every month, and never, ever having someone ask…why are you late?

Happy Thanksgiving!