Semi-Daily Scribbles

The company picnic gave Barbara a pounding headache and indigestion, even though she didn't eat any of the shitty food. Another season, another round of humiliating back-slaps, and the onset of debilitating self-doubt that accompanied these shindigs were taking their toll on Barbara's delicate constitution. After every bloated VP's speech, and the sour sulfur rising from the potato salad, Barbara promised herself she'd update her résumé and begin the hunt for a more suitable position. Keeping the CV current wasn't the problem. Barbara fussed with, and tweaked, the language and format of her experience more than she put forth the effort to live the life she dreamed. This year was different, she vowed up and down. Barbara was smart and worked hard, but she always came up short. Forgotten about. Passed over. Told to hold on. Hang in there for a little while longer. Those little whiles added up quickly, to where she found herself dizzy and fuming at yet another Employee Appreciation Day. Barbara felt the passage of years seep into her bones, weakening her resolve by the hour as her cravings gnawed at her gut. But when she made it back to her apartment, after an agonizing game of croquet with her boss, Barbara found her salvation in the foyer. The package she'd been expecting had finally arrived. It was heavy in her hand, and her heart raced at what was beneath the plain brown wrapper. Barbara had no intention of attending another company picnic ever again. The box she paid dearly for would fill her frazzled mind with new ideas, deeper meanings, and clearer intentions. She had much to absorb before closing the door on her little world one last time.