Oh yeah.

[kv0925]

While I was at Animal Kingdom with the girls, we were walking across the bridge from Asia to Dinoland (which is a beautiful spot, by the way), and there was a man walking at a fast clip in the other direction, a few steps ahead of his wife, who was pushing a stroller with a kid or two on board. They were apparently in the midst of a semi-heated conversation, and he half-turns while he's walking, and says, rather bitterly: "Well, you know how *I* feel; I'd rather be at work! I'm sorry!" And to be clear, that's one of those "just deal with it" types of "I'm sorry," not any sort of actual apology.

And I was just like, wow. In my mind I imagined a scenario where I pulled the guy aside and asked him to take a moment and mentally project himself onto his deathbed, and ask himself if he thinks he'd be wishing at that point that he'd spent more time working and less with his family. It's one of those conclusions I guess I take for granted, but maybe that's just because I've actually thought about it, you know? I imagine for a guy like that, who has no notion of how swiftly his time is passing, no appreciation for the moments going by that will never return--maybe for a guy like that, life really is all about getting to the next practical triumph, and any time spent not chasing the next brass ring is time wasted.

It's a damn shame, though. And not just for him, you know? People. Sheesh.

Comments

[girlguitarist.livejournal.com]

I think vacations bring out the worst in some families. I've seen so much crap like that at Disneyland. Hello, you are at DISNEYLAND. Suck up your stupid petty problems and have fun. Some people don't get to spend that time with their families because they can't afford the breaks.

PEOPLE!

[fiberguyr1.livejournal.com]

The last time we were at Disney, we saw something similar while having lunch or dinner in the castle. Except this one was the mom that was being a complete and total biatch. It got so bad at one point, that I wanted to tell the guy to run.

[girlspell.livejournal.com]

Any vacation is stressful because getting there is such a pain. With small kids, driving to place that is miles away. We have an ocean resort in Maryland (Ocean City) Gorgeous beaches and pristine water (it was voted the no 1 clean beach in the U.S. mainland) But it's miles away in horrendous traffic. A vacation is supposed to be an escape. But it's not, because you live so far away from it. You depend on a car to get there (no other way) and you in a foul move by the time you arrive.

[loxthebox.livejournal.com]

Wow.... He'd seriously rather be at work than spending time with his family? Probably shouldn't have gotten married then.

[cinnamonbite.livejournal.com]

You know, a lot of people LOVE their job and spend as much time there as possible. They think family is something they HAVE to do but they don't enjoy it.
And honestly, crowded fucking Disney with long lines and squalling brats? If the wife wanted a nice vacation, she should have let the guy stay in the hotel bar or with his laptop in the room.
Or maybe she's making unreasonable demands on him. Again. She could be the bitch, you didn't get to hear what drove him to that point.