The Other 167 Hours

It’s not like I need it.

How’s that get-o-meter working? You know, that thing that measures how much you are getting from your spouse, church, job, friends, children, relatives, the “Relationship”… You know that thing you check every now and then just to make sure you’re not being taken advantage of? …just before you say,”All I do is give, give, give and never get anything back!”

Yeah, that thing. You better make sure it’s handy because Christmas is just a few days away and you would hate to be caught without it! Things might not be fair. You might be asked to do something for someone who hasn’t really carried their fair share. I mean, fair is fair! Right? Come to think of it, Christmas seems to be the time when many of us got our first get-o-meter as a child. (Ooh, that means mine is getting pretty old.) Yours is still working fine, just like when you where a child? Isn’t it? Exactly like when you were a child?

I’m finding out that my get-o-meter is heavy and bulky and it tires me out to lug it everywhere I go. I’m not even sure mine is calibrated accurately. I do know for sure that some people’s get-o-meter is WAY off. Don’t make me name names. And where do you take those things to get them fixed?

To tell you the truth, I’d like to get rid of mine. Can I do that? It’s so much work running everything in my life through that machine! It never comes out EXACTLY even anyway. Either I get more than someone else or someone else gets more than me. If I get more, I feel like I owe them something and then the relationship is never the same. If someone gets more than me… well, then I know it’s just not a healthy relationship anyway, and the relationship is never the same. Hey, it seems like either way, relationships are taking a hit whenever that machine is powered up.

Yes, I do want to get rid of it. But, I’m scared. No, I didn’t really mean scared. It’s just that it’s been my companion for years. I can’t really remember a time when I didn’t have it. Maybe I’ll just keep it for one more Christmas. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Just one more Christmas… and maybe my birthday, and anniversary, and I’ll use it for my annual review at work, of course. It’s not like I need it. I could get rid of it any time.