Of course, this little piece of dialogue is Scrooge's famous response to Bob Cratchit wanting Christmas day off from work. It's a classic Scrooge move, feeling abused by Bob's request for a vacation. Christmas is a losing proposition for Scrooge. He doesn't get any work out of his clerk, but he still has to pay Bob. It seems mightily unfair to Scrooge. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear Scrooge was a Republican.
Next week, I'm on vacation. As with most of my vacations, I have already made a few plans. On Monday, the praise band I play keyboard for is performing at a local church camp. That's going to take all night long. I'm supposed to go to a movie with a close friend, and I'm going to try to get my family together with an old college friend and his family. I also want to clean out a corner of my dining room and maybe organize my attic a little bit.
I'm not sure if I'm the only person who does this kind of planning for a vacation. I'm trying to be realistic. I may not get to the attic. I'm determined to get to the dining room corner, and I really want to go to a movie with my friend. The only thing that's definite is Monday night's band performance. I should also get an oil change for my car, which is always a scary experience. The garage always finds something wrong that's incredibly expensive to fix.
Sometimes working is less stressful than being on vacation. When I'm on vacation, which happens only twice a year, I feel obligated to squeeze in as much extracurricular activities as I can. In doing so, I usually end up exhausted. I go back to work not feeling rejuvenated or refreshed. I go back to work needing a vacation from my vacation.
I know this vacation scheduling practice of mine is not healthy. I tend to be a Type A personality, in case you haven't noticed. I like having fun, but I have to fit it into my day. Fun cannot screw up my normal activities.
Saint Marty needs some time off to plan his time off.
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| No room for surprises |
