A Job Well Done
I waited until the last possible minute to send an email to my boss:
Just remembered - I have an appointment tomorrow morning. I'll work from home for the rest of the day.
It took about twenty minutes of analyzing wave models and ten seconds of rationalization for this email. After all, a potential decent swell versus a day spent absorbing fluorescent lighting proved no contest.
My recent workload, lightened due to my obsessive need to complete projects as soon as I get them, left my dance card clear enough to do this. The email wasn’t a lie, merely a creative distillation of the truth. My appointment with Doctor Neptune was long overdue.
Playing hooky in order to surf isn’t a recent invention. If you look at the collective history of our culture, there’s an underlying thread of ditching work in favor of waves. That’s one of the reasons 19th Century missionaries made Hawaiians give up surfing.
Admit it—you’ve done it, and probably more than once. In fact, you were probably one of the ones out last week trying to craft a story of why after a sick day, you came back tanned. "Well, you see, I have one of those sun lamps in the bathroom, and it’s the only light that works in there, and I spent so much time in there being sick, well…" These exercises in creativity are essential if you suffer a hard-line boss.
Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones whose boss surfs, too. This has the benefit of the boss saying, "Why not take the day off?" knowing what you’re going to do. The downside of a surfing boss comes from the chance you’ll duck out of work and paddle into the lineup right next to the person who can fire you.
Perhaps, like the majority of people out there, your boss doesn’t surf. One who understands how a good paycheck dims in comparison to good waves is the next best thing. These bosses don’t ask too many questions, only throwing a knowing nod your way the next time you show up for work. Acknowledging, with a little jealousy, the cliché we already know: A bad day of surfing is better than a good day of work.