Outside the Mixing Bowl

If you stay long enough, even the asylum begins to feel normal.

This must be a coping mechanism. That's my only explanation. How else could you rationalize our ability to deal with angry drivers, rude service personnel, ladder climbing coworkers, and people who are more than a few cards short of a full deck? 

We do it because we have to. 

The problem is, when you leave the mix for a period of time, coming back isn't quite so easy. Most of us experience this phenomenon when we return from vacation. 

I think the first day back at work is a profoundly sobering experience. I don't know if this has happened to you, but I've literally stood there, watched, then slowly backed away from the door.

I'm not sure if this is an argument for, or against, extended vacations. The argument for is quite simple: you find your sense of well being.  The argument against is... well there really isn't one, is there?

So once a year, we regain our vision before sliding back into the mixing bowl.  The beaters begin to spin. But with battered eyes we look ahead...

To the next two weeks of sanity on the books.

-Derrick