OUTLOOK — By Nizar Al Musalmy — I could not help but feel guilty about leaving home at the end of my annual leave. I felt I needed more time with junior, his sister and their mother. My mind started looking for an excuse to extend my vacation. During the vacation we had been through a lot together as a family — sleepless nights of TV, late dinners, hanging out, daily afternoon naps and the evenings full of roaming around beaches and malls. But the leave had come to an end. I could not believe it! I persistently whined to myself about the fact that soon I would have to spend the whole day away from home sweet home.
Coming back to the office was so difficult to the extent that the anxiety made me to think of lying to my boss, just to get a few more days off. Nonetheless, I knew I had to return to work and embarked on plans for the return. With a new dishdasha outfit I decided I was ready for work and was up early on reporting day. But I was not ready! I left the kids and their mother, but thinking of them waking up without me being there added to my nervousness. I drove to work, reached the office and just the look of my workstation made me sad. I could not even remember my computer password. I had to arrange for it to be reset. I called our IT help desk and they did the needful. Even after I logged onto the computer, I could not get myself to work, despite the piles of paper that stared back at me. I came back to work thinking I will be happy and full of energy — but by the end of the first work day I already felt tired and unhappy. It was almost like I didn’t have a vacation at all.
All I did was monitor the clock and call home every hour to ask whether everything was okay. Day one at work was a disaster and so were the next four days. Waking up was also a nightmare since I was used to sleeping until just before noon. I went to work with puffy eyes. I started hating my job, but I had to go because I needed the money. But the transition was a little bit rough.
“However bad I may have felt on my first day of work, I will not feel as bad in the next one month or so,” I tried to convince myself. Not only did I suffer the emotions that came with having to return to work, but I had no motivation to start me off. Coming back from a vacation is a letdown. After a lot of stress trying to find an incentive to start me off, I decided to roam around other people’s offices for chats and socialisation.
When I was on leave, my day rotated around family and pleasure and then it was time to return to work. Finding concentration was a nightmare. Indeed, I took the opportunity to escape from the office. Yes, it was fun-filled, I entertained myself. Leave days are wonderful opportunities for removing that boredom and exhaustion. I went ahead and provided myself with that spoiling mood. I felt free like a bird in the air. But invariably the vacation has ended and I am back to work. What a pity!
