Padded walls and straight jackets
There is more to life than starring at these semi-padded walls. Are they padded for a reason? The padded walls are decorated to block the reality. Reality is you’re a gerbil assigned to your own cage spinning on your wheel all day. I feel my eyes dimming, my brain shriveling, and my hope fading. One day, I’ll end up right where this is headed… in a straight jacket.
Ground hog day
Each day is filled with repetitive mindless tasks. Do we even believe in what we are doing? In the movie ground hog day, the main character wakes up to see that he is reliving the previous day. He tries and tries to change the course of the day without luck. The same goes for the cube life.
Everyone shares in the misery. As I write this, I over hear the daily conversation “Is it five yet?” and everyone in earshot says, “I wish”. In addition, every day at 11:00 the discussion begins of “what are we eating for lunch?” The lunch discussions last for a full hour until food is ordered, picked up, or bought from the local food truck that frequents our workplace. It’s the highlight of the day. I’m too poor to buy lunch. My lunch has been packed and tagged along with me to work for years. How much money do you think I’ve saved from always bringing my lunch? I’ve probably saved THOUSANDS of dollars. I can control portions, content, and I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat once it’s packed. How do they buy lunch frequently? Credit cards. It’s an unhealthy food, unhealthy spending downward spiral. Now don’t get me wrong, this just doesn’t happen in cubes. That type of behavior happens everywhere but that’s a different soapbox.
Routine
Some people enjoy the routine of knowing each day will be the same as the day before. They also enjoy the fellowship and friendships that evolve from the workplace. Do all these thousands of people reporting to cubes daily really enjoy their daily work lives? Could it be that they are just afraid to learn something new, make a leap, and make the change? We all are from time to time.
Have you noticed that houses are now being built to resemble cubes? They are cubes (houses), in a row, and you get to decorate your cube as you wish.
Meant to do more
We are meant to do more. Even if monotony is your comfort zone, leave that at work. Don’t drag monotony and complacency home. We tend to let the boredom make us tired. Then that carries over to the remainder of our lives. Since working in a cube, I’ve been to a physical therapist and in rehabilitation. As an old runner can’t sit still and keep her legs crossed. Alignment becomes an issue that creates havoc for knees and hips. Never have I had issues with my hips until I sat at a desk all day.
Better for our children
As a mother, I don’t want my daughter to think she has to go find a job in some building with a large parking lot, a large break room, and her own cube. Her mother did it, her other family members did as well, plus some of her friends may end up going. It is my job to create a life I LOVE. By creating my own way, I do hope she will learn that she can create her own way. I pray that she will see you don’t have to live the life people think you should or tell you to live. In no way, do I think it’s not the life for everyone. Some people make a fantastic living and a life long career out of a job such as mine. It’s just not the life for me.
LIVE YOUR LIFE
The phrase “live you life” is so cliché but it’s so true. Every day is truly a blessing and a gift. Each day of life is not a cakewalk or we would all be completely bored.
I hope to teach my daughter to enjoy her life to the fullest, be a good person, and
take a leap of faith when you are called upon. If she does not she may miss the best experiences of her life.
