A Pragmatic Change in Scenery

It took me a while to learn that the magical land of Florida has more than Disney World; lukewarm, outdoor swimming pools in December; and beautiful grandparents to spoil me and my sister to death.  It also took a while to understand that there were kids who lived in the Kingdom year-round and went to school like myself.  Yes!  It took a while to understand there was something beyond the luxurious, gated community.  And the vacations were always so fleeting…so short.  Sometimes they were even contaminated by homework imposed upon me by my teachers.  The fleeting nature of my vacations and the “homework” feeling has grown worse in adulthood.  The last three trips to Florida were polluted by a funeral, deadlines, consistent e-mails, and other factors that stole precious vacation time.  It is difficult to not remain bitter and want to do something about it.  I cannot get away from work and I cannot have a real vacation.  Therefore, give me the chance to smooth over any negative energy with a compromise.

I have made the adult decision to visit Delray Beach, Florida for three, consecutive weeks while staying with my maternal grandmother in her Peninsula of Paradise.  Some of my duties will include food shopping, chauffeuring my grandmother to her various appointments, doing the food shopping, and continuing my anti-bullying work using the modern innovations of e-mail and Priority Mail.  A brief tour of Washington State will also be included in the trip when I depart via plane to perform speeches.  Most important, nearly a solid month will be shaved off this miserable winter.  The winter has been fairly mild compared to last year, but I do not discriminate.  All winters are completely miserable regardless of the aggregate snowfall.

But please spare any feelings of jealousy.  I intend to get valuable work completed and the change of scenery will also give me an infusion of energy to start my next book proposal.  I’ll also do everything in my power to keep it from becoming a vacation.  Three weeks can go pretty fast like the fine granules of an hourglass.  The blink of an eye is enough to see it pass.

The responsibilities of adulthood can become overwhelming regardless of whether or not someone has an autism spectrum disorder.  Then again, adulthood can also become liberating when you have the power to make your own decisions while weighing both the benefits and consequences.  In this case, there are far more benefits than consequences.

There is another incentive for my trip to Delray Beach.  Last week, Barnum and Bailey Circus called and asked me to be part of their Freak Show as the “World’s Fattest Man.”  They pleaded to pay me one hundred dollars per day to just stand inside a glass case and have the public stare at me.  Alright.  Fine!  Maybe this did not actually happen, but I am gaining more weight than I know what to do with these days.  Answering e-mails at the computer all day long has really taken its toll as I have graduated to the 200-pound milestone.  It is time to take executive action without any further delay!  Watch me and wait for my return as a thinner person.

In the future, I will create a company that sends its employees on extravagant vacations under the condition they must complete a certain workload in this tropical environment.  It would increase productivity, worker morale, and let them know they are a valuable component of the workplace.  I believe sometimes a change in setting is needed for something profound to flourish.  Not short enough that the person is desperately craving more.  But not long enough so the person becomes restless and yearns for the grass back on that former side.

On a final note, I thank all of my friends and Facebook fans for believing in me and keep watching my posts.  I’ll try to write more blog entries filled with the misery of my constant work so you will not feel so jealous that I have chosen to leave you behind in your frigid environment! 

I am leaving on February 28^th, 2012 and will be returning on March 20^th, 2012