There are so many people that
always have to be doing something. And they assume everyone else is like that too.
That’s why people always ask on Friday, “What are you doing this weekend?”
And on Monday, “What did you do this weekend?”
And when you’re taking a day off or vacation days, “Where are you going?”
“What are you doing?”
“What did you do last night?”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
Sometimes this is just idle, polite chatter, small talk. But under the surface, I think it’s expected to have an “acceptable” answer.
Why is it expected that we should be busy and off doing stuff
all the time?
Take my neighbor (and co-worker). Every weekend during the day he’s out in his yard mowing, pruning, planting, weeding, picking, washing. The guy has three kids too, so I know his evenings are slammed. At work he runs around all stressed out and talks really fast. He makes me edgy just being around him.
I, on the other hand, have no problem sitting on my deck reading or sitting on my ass watching TV or movies for hours.
My husband and I take an annual vacation…we stay home and recharge; we don’t do housework, yard work, or errands. We take what I consider a real vacation. When I tell people (because they always ask what we’re going to be doing on our down time) that we aren’t going anywhere, we’re just going to stay home and relax, they all look at me like that’s the most novel and innovative idea, and they say how they should do something like that. (Of course, they never do.)
Are we low-key? Or are we just lazy?
We take trips and have interests, so it’s not like we lead the most boring lives ever. (OK, well maybe the second most.) We’ve taken two weeks to drive the California coast, we’ve seen London, traveled Australia. My husband even went on an Antarctic adventure. Our lives are multi-faceted enough.
And our house and yard are in relative order. We pay our bills and are functioning members of society.
Come on people, watch some mindless reality television. Stare into space. Come over to the dark side!
