School, Not-School, and Work

About a month ago, Daniel and I had a bit of a mishap, but an interesting conversation about work and life. So that I wouldn't forget it, I emailed it to myself that day, as follows:

This morning we waited 15 minutes for the bus, but it didn't come.

I drove Daniel to school, and the parking lot was surprisingly empty for that time of the morning.

We got in the door and learned, from an office administrator, that today and tomorrow are no-school days for the kids - some kind of administrative planning hiatus. I told Daniel, "I guess you'll have to go to work with me." He really liked that idea. But then, in the car, he got to asking about work:

"Is it just kind of sitting at a desk all day, all annoying, all boring, like doing homework? Kind of like going to school, except that you don't get to see your family?"

I told Daniel that work-work really is a lot like homework. Luckily, I didn't hate homework when I was a lad...

(November 17, 2011)