boredom

my boss, fran (short for francis) is one of the coolest people ever. he also is a great affirmer and is well aware that i'm ditching Fluor for grad school next year: because of this he tries to convince me to stay in this business. he likes to say things like, "i know you're going to be good at anything you do, but you have a great mind for this business." this is why i love my boss.
but for those who think it's crazy for me to leave this cushy job where i get paid a lot, i wish i could recite to them a part of the first two paragraphs of one of my favorite books, "And Then We Came to the End" :

"We were fractious and overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day....

Is this boring you yet? It bored us every day. Our boredom was ongoing, a collective boredom, and it would never die because we would never die."

while that is rather dour, it is true for many days i walk into my cubicle. it doesn't matter how many affirmations i get, how many pats on the back from management for the bane-of-my-existence monthly report...it is boredom. plain and simple. and Joshua Harris says it all too well.

i'm always trying to look on the bright side, and don't worry, i'm not going to quit tomorrow. that's for a year from now or so. but i just had to share.