Summer finally has arrived.
There鈥檚 glorious sun, long evenings, and the world seems to have gone on vacation.
Parks are packed with people, morning, noon, and into those long evenings I was talking about. The beaches are probably just as packed with sun soakers, fun seekers.
The world is resplendent with carefree, fill-your-boots fun.
The dilemma: You鈥檙e not having it; you鈥檙e at work 鈥� the patsy, the chump, the sucker.
That鈥檚 not me being mean, that鈥檚 just how you feel. And I鈥檓 here, too, aren鈥檛 I? Foolish for not having become a teacher. A 鈥渃onsultant.鈥� A drug dealer.
Maybe your holidays aren鈥檛 booked until the end of August. Or worse, October. Used them up already? Don鈥檛 get any? Yikes! I feel your pain.
So what is a person to do?
One approach was summed up well in a great old Kids in the Hall skit in which a savvy construction foreman introduces his work-weary labourer to the on-the-job slip-ups that can book you some R&R with the Goddess of Compensation.
鈥淚 thought I recognized that look,鈥� says the foreman to his grumpy employee.
鈥淲hat look?鈥�
鈥淭he look of a guy who鈥檚 daydreaming of a disabling but a non-crippling injury.鈥�
It鈥檚 true that, during weeks like this, some people suddenly develop carpal tunnel after 20 years at the keyboard, just for July-August, or they catch a rash of summer colds, and use up their sick time.
Meantime, for those responsible folks out there 鈥� and yes, boss, that鈥檚 me, I swear 鈥� there鈥檚 got to be a better way.
How to inject a little fun, while still getting the (bloody) job done?
Here are a few suggestions I gleaned from colleagues, online and up there in my noggin while I was staring out the window, yearning to be on the other side of the fishbowl:
鈥� Get outside. On your lunch break, walk with a colleague, meet a friend for lunch, find a park and read a book in the sunshine.
鈥� Got a meeting? Have it in the park. Bring a box of ice cream sandwiches.
鈥� Sometimes your attire can influence your state of mind. Why not wear flip-flops and shorts to work? Crazy Hawaiian shirts.
Sometimes it just comes down to making the after-work stuff more 鈥渟ummery鈥� and breaking out of the usual September to June routine.
鈥� Have a picnic dinner after work, at the beach, the park, your deck or in the yard.
鈥� Treat the weeknights like weekends. Go for drinks. Lounge on the deck of an outdoor pool.
In the end, sadly, there鈥檚 no perfect way to alleviate the nosing-the-grindstone affliction. Work, after all, is called thus for a reason.
So perhaps we should start a petition based upon the suggestion of Sheila Keenan, who on Twitter posited that because colder places in Canada get snow days, we should have something similar here.
鈥淰ancouver should get two or three sun days this summer. On really gorgeous days, everyone gets the day off.鈥�
I鈥檓 with you, Sheila.
Chris Bryan is editor of the Burnaby NewsLeader.
