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Take This Job
Leaving the Rat Race Behind
M. Williams May 22, 2005
Written just prior to our departure for
lands--and adventures--unknown. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time, and certainly a novel opportunity--one of those how-do-you-get-a-job-like-that kind of scenarios. So naturally we went for it.
Live and learn. Contrary to popular opinion, being a suburban mail carrier isn't a cushy government job. It's heavy, hard, cold, wet, dirty
and dangerous work that destroys your vehicle, clothing, body and, inevitably, your mind. For the last three and a half years, we've been toiling away at
the post office, cogs in the massive corporate machinery that gets the pile of letters, countless magazines, priority-rush, must-have Shopping Channel items and that unconscionable mass of junk mail to its destination,
through rain and snow and heat and, yes, sometimes even gloom of night...day after mind-numbing day.To date we have moved 1001000 lbs of mail. We've pulled and heaved and tugged and sweated our way through a whopping
445 tons of the stuff! |
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But it hasn't been for naught. The postie experience has been an uncommon one. Being on the front lines of such massive, unceasing momentum
and working with such a large and diverse team of people has been a unique challenge. And along with a few new and equally unique friends, it's given us the wherewithal to embark on a far greater adventure. So now
that we've had our fill of angry dogs and mad customers, we're off to do a bit of homesteading on Canada's East Coast. There,
n estled in the rolling mountains of Cape Breton Island, fifteen minutes east of the Atlantic Ocean and an hour south of nowhere, twenty-five acres of hardwood
forest--and blessed silence--await our June arrival.There is no driveway, no electricity, no shelter. There is no forwarding address. Armed with axe and shovel, our goal will be to erect a permanent habitable
structure before the snow flies and grow enough food to survive the long, harsh maritime winter. And with a bit of luck, we'll get it done without antagonizing the local bear population. A tall order, you say?
Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night...somehow we don't think so. Little did we know... |
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