Risks and Rewards

It would be nice if good behavior had immediate rewards and bad behavior immediate punishments. Such is not the case, whether at work in job number one, newspaper editing, or in job number two, Younger Next Year. This week I had my cake and ate it too, and still weighed 176.9. What's up? Who knows? Maybe, like my Grandma Petersen always said when I was growing up, I have a hollow leg.

I had to work myself all week at the newspaper like a rented mule, yet we learned through good detective work, and not an announcement from corporate headquarters as should have been the case, that we are being given two unpaid days off a month, not just one. Even though our incomes are modest, this makes a big difference in how easily we can pay our bills. It is further punishment for good behavior.

The powers that be say that when the economy improves, we might get our days back. Might. However, I like the days off work, even if the workload is not reduced and can be overwhelming at times. Americans work too much. Americans play too little. One of the main things men in particular say on their death bed is they wish they wouldn't have worked so much.