Joblessness

Today I thought I would share a few thoughts about joblessness. Specifically, my own.

Despite a personal belief that progress as a civilization should mean we have more time for non-work pursuits (e.g. arts, sports, building relationships, gardening), I had the opportunity to become somewhat of a workaholic last year. It was great. I received rewards both financial and ego-building. I didn't have to deal with any problems at home. And best of all, in a society where we place so much value on the number of hours a person works (regardless of their productivity), I got to hold my head high in all but the most unbalanced circles.

I wasn't looking forward to walking away from all that. I'd experienced unemployment before. We spent a month in Czechoslovakia as newlyweds and it got to the point that I was pleading with Czech grandmas to let me do the dishes. It just doesn't feel good to be without something that needs to get done. So, I boarded the plane for my nine month vacation with a fair amount of trepidation.

Well, it didn't take me long to forget all about work. Our first six weeks here were packed so full of day trips, long bike rides, and struggles just to buy groceries that there was no time to miss work. I was having so much fun that when I did think about work, it was only to try and figure out how to never go back to my job again.

Then it got chilly. It's one thing being a stay at home dad when you can go roving over the countryside with your three year old, but when you're stuck inside all day, it gets much harder. This may sound like I'm only trying to win points with my wife, but, truly, when you consider the difficulty of working with children and the rewards employment offers, it's easier to do my engineering job well than it is to be a professional parent. Plus, Kristine is better at it.


I wasn't completely without work during this time. While working on the first draft of my book, I was up at 5:00 a.m. (or earlier when the ideas were just burning in me) six days a week. Some days I was able to get in six hours at the keyboard. If you include time thinking about the story while walking along the river, and time spent reading (an important part of becoming a writer), I was easily putting in a full day's work. I tell you, this is the job for me. There's just one problem. I'm no good at it yet. But I've never let that stop me from doing things.

So, in eight short weeks I'll be back at Mn/DOT doing whatever it is that I do for a job. But between now and then I'm gonna live my life of independent wealthiness to the fullest.

Peter Harff, M.S., P.E., W.B.W