What's Your Bag?

I have a sweet part-time job that leaves me pretty much on my own terms and schedule. I am left alone to do my work, with minimal interference or meddling by the powers that be and my cubicle sits in the back with two great co-workers. Add in that the company I work for makes salads, sandwiches, and yogurt for Starbucks, so we get a free lunch every single day. Gees, unless they decide to give me some ridiculous pay raise, it doesn't get much better than this.

I was cracking up this morning as there were a few mumble and grumbles about the workplace circulating around the coffeepot. Oh, there was some issue or that and a few folks were grumping. I happened to be going by and had to add in my best Pollyanna voice "I like working here. And do you know why?"

"Why?" was the half-hearted required response from someone.

"Because we don't have to work with Killer Whales!" And they all looked at me like I was nuts. Sometimes they don't get me, but I don't care.

I mean, really, you may think your job sucks, but there is never a day when I'm gonna get grabbed from my desk and eaten by a killer whale like that dame at Sea World. Now that is a tough job. And you have to get wet--a lot. I don't think I would like that very much. And getting eaten on the job would really suck, wouldn't it?

So, while I sort of stumped the crab-fest over in the lunchroom, I was thinking about how little it takes to make me happy. And why does it take others so much more?

There has been a Kohl's bag sitting on my kitchen floor for nearly 2 months now. Not much of a shopper, I literally think that bag has been there since after Christmas, which is odd for me. I am meticulous about my house and nothing sits out for more than 3 days--2 months is unheard of around this place.

The bag sits there because it is Grace's favorite thing in the world. Well, maybe second after the new feather-on-a-stick-thingy I bought for the kitties, but it is definitely the highlight of her life, that bag. She sits on it, she taps it, she climbs in and out of it, and she wrestles it. She even threw up on it the other day--to which I washed it off and put it back down for her. I wake up in the middle of the night to a sound which sounds something like a typewriter, but it is Grace tippy-tapping her bag.

That simple bag makes Grace very happy, so I don't mess with the bag. In fact, my good friend, Wendy, actually brought me two new Kohl's bags to replace the tattered mess that is her bag.

So, like Grace, I find joy in the simple things. I like that I get free yogurt every day that I work. I like that Irene and I discuss last night's TV shows over the cube walls or that I actually get paid to write for a living. Okay, so I don't make a fortune or get benefits--I like that I have a job that I enjoy in an economy where jobs are scarce. And best of all? I don't work with killer whales.

It's the weekend, pallies. Go enjoy your lives a bit. Go look for the simple joys in your life--a warm fire, sunshine, a good book, or perhaps a nap. Go through your blogroll and actually catch up on your favorite blogs or spend some time with a friend.

Whatever it is that makes you happy, go do it. Be like Grace and go crinkle the bag of your life, my friends........... and enjoy.