Being Unpredictable

This is a pretty old photo; it was taken when the Daily Post participated in a Fair and Rodeo Parade. 

One of the biggest dislikes I had for my former job was it was predictable. There was something unsettling  knowing the current day on the job would be the same as the previous day and that all proceeding days would be identical.

This dislike was almost as strong as my disdain for the lack of any windows in the office. For the majority of the five years I worked as a secretary it was in a corrugated metal building that also served as one of the laboratory's maintenance departments. Once those doors clicked shut and automatically locked, it felt like the outside world was sealed off and very, very far away.

So it goes without saying that my favorite thing about my current job is that it is completely unpredictable. I wake up in the morning and anything can happen. Take Saturday, I was sitting in a cushy, faux leather massage chair, my feet propped up on a gold glitter plastic basin while a tiny fan whirled furiously by my feet.  My toenails had just been painted a wine color and I studied them, waiting for the polish to dry so that I could put my shoes on.  To pass the time, I checked my e-mail on my phone. I opened one message, which invited me to cover a community meeting.  The start time for the meeting was at 3 p.m., which according to my phone's clock, was in one minute. My lethargic state immediately ceased. I unwrapped the Kleenex that had been used to separate my toes and bent to shove my feet into my shoes. The woman who had labored intensively to get my feet looking presentable cried out that I couldn't wear regular shoes yet and gave me a pair of thin, foam flip flops colored a bright neon lime green. So wearing my foam flip flops I marched as hurriedly as I could across the parking lot to my car and roared off to grab my camera and notepad.

I believe I arrived a few minutes shy of 3:30 p.m.  but still in time to adequately cover the meeting. See- this is what I love about being a journalist. One minute you are getting a pedicure and the next you are flying off, in flimsy lime green flip flops, to do an interview. Having an unpredictable job is the best. Plus, the Daily Post has floor to ceiling windows. You can see everything happening in the outside world. It is all right in front of us.