By The Way...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
11:12:00 AM EDT
Hearing Dead or Alive -- Oingo Boingo
A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle looks at a bunch of people walking around in the middle of the day (presumably not at lunchtime) and wonders: shouldn't these people be at work? What are they doing with their lives? So he goes up to some of them and asks what they're doing out an about in the middle of the day. The answers are, as you may imagine, varied.

Speaking as someone who is sometimes out in the middle of the day, I always thought it was interesting, because typically speaking I was the only male my age out in the world at 10am or 3pm. Aside from me it was stay-at-home moms and retired folks. And I did occasionally get strange looks, along the line of "why don't you have a job?" When Athena was a baby and I was out and about with her during the day, the looks were even stranger. I didn't mind; I found them amusing. Anyway, I do work doing the day; I can just take off when I want. It's nice to have a flexible schedule.

Are you often out and about in the middle of the day?


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This entry has 7 comments: (Add your own)

• #7 Comment from monponsett 
  5/24/07 11:23 AM | Permalink

  Get a job, hippy!
• #6 Comment from southernmush 
  5/23/07 10:47 PM | Permalink

  Hi Mr. Scalzi !!!
  
  You asked the question....Are you often out and about in the middle of the day ?
  
  NO !!!!!!! I am at work in a building. The only time I am out and about is during my lunch hour with two of my coworkers usually. I am off on the weekend. Other than that I am working.
• #5 Comment from jamie24601 
  5/23/07 6:14 PM | Permalink

  This phenomenon is much more common in places where tourism is the main industry.  I work at a hotel, in a restaurant no less, and my days off are Mon/Tues/Weds.  It's common at my company to refer to days as "my Monday" or "my Friday" as opposed to actual days of the week.
  
  If people who work bankers' hours knew how great it was to schedule doctor appointments without taking time off from work, how EMPTY the supermarket is at 2 pm on a Wednesday, or how much lighter traffic is on the weekends, I suspect more people would work through the weekends.
  
  Jamie
  http://parkhopper.blogspot.com
• #4 Comment from dpoem 
  5/23/07 1:36 PM | Permalink

  Nope.  I don't go out in the daytime.  I stay home, and only go out when the sun goes down.  That's when I start hunting vampires.  
  
  There's gobs of them in Milwaukee, and they don't just get rid of themselves.  
  
  -Dan
  http://journals.aol.com/dpoem/TheWisdomofaDistractedMind/
  
• #3 Comment from princesssaurora 
  5/23/07 12:19 PM | Permalink

  We have lots of stay at home dads and work from home dads in our little hamlet... we would not stare at you... !!!  LOL
  
  be well,
  Dawn
  http://journals.aol.com/princesssaurora/CarpeDiem/
  

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