12 square feet of comfort

I have a rather large desk here at work that I spend quite a bit of time at each day. It measures in at approximately 24 square feet. On any given day I occupy about 12 square feet of the desk at any one time. I may spend an odd minute or half hour at the other 12 square feet of the desk, but that is rare. In fact, the only reason I go over to the other 12 square feet at all is because my coffee maker is over there and (I am in growing awareness of this every day) I need my coffee. I have become quite expert in the layout of the 12 square feet that I confine myself too. I have a less complete understanding of the other 12 square feet, but I do have some idea what is over there and how it is laid out. When I get something new to put in my cube, if it is functional (well, everything is functional at some level, but you know what I mean) I confine it to the 12 square feet where I find myself for most of the day: my keyboard, monitor, phone, CD player, empty Coke bottle to fill with water from the fountain, Palm Pilot cradle, pictures of the family….it is a little crowded but I like things where I can see them and use them in a convenient manner. No sense twirling around in the chair just to get a glimpse of my wife and family.

And then I think of the years I have been on this earth, and the culture I have grown up in, and the city I have always lived in, the State that I leave only on occasion, the country that I have left only a couple of times. And then I think that I set myself up to be the supreme arbiter of all that is true. If my pea brain cannot comprehend it then I am so quick to toss it away and forget about it. There is no height to my arrogance.