T's Shoppe

Today was an historic day. I, TJN, was at work at 6:30 AM. This of course required me to leave my house at a time when the only people awake are meteorologists...and nursing mothers. And as I sat in an all-day meeting positively loathing the subject matter, I had a strange thought. A fresh-out-of-college boy who'd been making surprisingly strategic comments all day had just said something that drew praise from all the big-wigs in the room, and I thought, "Why am I working in business?"

But T, you love your job! True that I used to, and true that I might again very soon if the stars align the way I'm hoping, but sometimes I wonder how I've strayed so far from where I thought I was headed in my youth. Why didn't I become a jeweler, a teacher, and why in the name of all that is good and true in this world don't I have a little shop of some kind? T's Shoppe. I used to sell old toys as a kid under this domain because I thought shoppe was so much more sophisticated than shop. I'd even say it wrong. I still say it wrong. Shoppee.

I got to enjoy a little of the afternoon today, and maybe it was the sunshine, maybe it was all the kids walking home from school, or maybe it was stopping in at the cobbler's little shop to pick up a couple of newly-repaired shoes that had me pining for simpler times. Or at least for my own shoppee.

Of course asking myself how I got here is completely rhetorical, because I know exactly how I got here, and I'm not saying I regret it. I'm just saying that I don't want to do this forever. Especially not on sunny days. Or Fridays. Or Mondays. Or any day in June, July, or August. Or any day there's snow on the roads. Other than that though, I'm good.

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