Waldo

I've never really written about my husband Chris and he's more than fine with that. He's a pretty soft-spoken guy. Doesn't like to make a lot of fuss or stand out. He wears a lot of black, brown and gray, so that he doesn't stand out. Every once in a while, he might break out a blue sweater, but its pretty much black, brown or gray.

I don't know if it's the weather or he's just in a midlife crisis, but recently (before the job loss/economic cutbacks) he bought a couple of new shirts from Kohl's. One was a green and gray stripped rugby shirt and the other one had red stripes. Look out Lincoln, here comes some color!

Chris is the manager of a hospital warehouse. The hospital here in Lincoln has two campuses and helps supply other medical facilities in the area. So he is in charge of making sure office equipment and medical supplies get to where they are supposed to go. He houses the old stuff too and makes sure that it gets donated/recycled as needed. It's an amazing job to coordinate all the "stuff" that comes and goes through the hospital system.

The warehouse also has a second function, it serves as a school for developmentally disabled young adults. They have teachers who assist them and the students receive "on-the-job" training and education. They are able to get a sense of self-worth, knowing that they are instrumental in helping the hospital function. They take inventory, make sure things are in the right spot and just help the permanent staff keep everything in order.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the "Where's Waldo" books, but in those books, the character Waldo is a tall skinny guy with glasses who wears a red and white striped shirt and hat and "hides" in pictures of the book. You can stare at these books for hours and hours looking for Waldo. Our kids love them and the "Where's Waldo" books have kept our kids busy for days on end.

Well Chris is a tall skinny guy with glasses and yesterday, he decided to wear his red and white striped shirt to work. He was working in the warehouse, going through the aisles, checking inventory when he heard the first one, "I found him!" A few minutes later, he was a few rows over counting some stock, when he heard it again, "I found him! (giggle, giggle, giggle)" A few minutes after that he was back amongst the forklifts checking on something managerial, when he heard it again, "I found him!!!!! (giggle, giggle). And then he realized, he was Waldo.

If you think about it, we spend about a third of our lives at work. That's a huge amount of time to not have fun. To just slave away and earn a paycheck. Maybe it's a good idea from time to time to mix it up and play a game. To throw on a red and white striped shirt and go looking for Waldo.