Sunday, December 27, 2009

An Inconclusive Rant Regarding Christmas, Work, and Dread

As much as I looked forward to having 4 days off of work this Christmas Season, I am now facing down a Santa-sized portion of Sunday Dread when I consider returning to work tomorrow. Oh sure, the holiday was pleasant enough, which isn't to say it went off without a hitch. In my family it is derigueur to have at least one blow-out, one out-sized flare of anger and hurt feelings that then sours my outlook like a lingering hangover. It is as if some malevolent elf, astray from his dungeon at the North Pole, inflicts chaos into my silent night. Still, though, we did, I think, come to some unspoken accord and, the egg-shells notwithstanding, managed to move around each other with a minimum of friction and dollops of graciousness.

So what, you might wonder, is so bad about returning to work? I can only say that the lurking quality of the endeavor replete with a circus's worth of elephants-in-the room (a distinct breed from African and Indian elephants; larger ears, fragile egos, and mawkish sensibilities) provides a weighty atmosphere suitable for the composition of dirges and the promotion of pharmacological interventions. Such is the back drop in the "helping professions" in which I labor...

2 comments:

anno said...

It can be a rough season, and I'm sorry this one has hit you so hard. Hope you are through the worst and on your way to finding peace and goodwill.

Jen said...

As someone said to my mother, who was too sick to travel to our relatives this Christmas: "I think Christmas can MAKE one sick".

In terms of the "helping professions" I think some of the members of those professions are hit especially hard in terms of helping everyone else through their very difficult holiday seasons.

I hope the actual return goes much more smoothly than the anticipation.