On the way home from work at the slaughterhouse I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the world was in the morning. Especially given that I still couldn't smell anything as my nose had shut down after drawing offal duty towards the end of my shift. I like working the graveyard shift, I understand why ordinary folks would shudder at the thought of working from midnight to six but they don't get me, I love the mornings. The streets are virtually empty, the world is still asleep and it's easier to pretend that you own everything. As I rounded the last corner before my flat I had one of those movie moments where I'm sure that something unimaginable is going to happen right around the bend, the brick wall that made up the corner marking the start of my street looked like it was a set prop in the morning light, so clean and fresh and even as I was aware that this was all in my head with plenty of help from the angle of the sun I couldn't resist the temptation to hear strains of mounting movie music rising up with lots of brass and strings and as I turned the corner extra momentously and heard the big drums go boom boom in my head I realized how little real drama I had in my life and was I really so happy about that?Nothing happened around the corner of course but the incident got me thinking, I led a nice quiet low maintenance low income life and didn't really feel the need for any excitement, but it got me thinking, I'd been working at the slaughterhouse for 3 years now (with two on the graveyard shift) and I realized that due to my idiosyncratic preference for anti-social working hours I had lost touch with nearly all of my so-called friends.
I also hadn't taken a vacation in over 18 months and I wondered to myself if now was the time?
