The routine...

You wake up feeling great. Birds chirping, sun shining, kids playing. Life is seems so simple and grand. You roll out of bed onto your feet and slowly begin that stagger to the bathroom. The stagger similar to a man attempting to leave the local vfw after putting in a hard days work on the stool. And as you come to your senses that you have slept the entire day completely away. Bills didn't get paid. Errands that needed to be completed weren't. Opportunities were missed, and mistakes were made. You begin to accept defeat and stagger back to the safe place where nothing bad can get you. The safe haven that you can seek some relief. You notice that those few minutes of vacancy has turned your once warm and cozy oasis into a frozen tundra. The prospect of returning to sleep quickly comes to reality in that it simply will not happen. 

You glance over onto the nightstand to find a fully charged phone. Quickly before you swipe to see what the world was doing while you in a state of peace, you contemplate if you really want to know what is waiting for you. Maybe instead you will go back and try to watch that dvr'd show from last night that you passed out while watching. Maybe you will stare at the ceiling in hopes that you will find the meaning of life resting in your drop ceiling tiles. You begin to ponder, maybe that new job called? Maybe I got a raise and things will get a little easier? The antipation only increases as you think today might be the day. 

You take a quick glance at your watch and realize this has been a pretty nerve racking 5 minutes and you've just woke up. Why can't this be like those breakfast commercials you see as you walk in the door every morning. Is there not a market for those who work nights and have to wake up at 4 or 5 pm in order to start the day again. I guess it's safe to say that the marketing department for foldgers has come to the realization that these types of people are a lost cause. But it shouldn't be this way. Because today is a great day. Now what makes this day great? This is your day off for the week. This is your day to take on those weekend projects all in 2 hours before everywhere you need to go closes if they haven't already. 

Reality sets in further, now you have accepted defeat. You can no longer continue to ignore the two-tone alerts emitting from the small 3x5.5 device that all but controls society. Man was it a nice little 7 hour disconnect from the world. So you pick it up and just first glance you know it's going to be trouble. You see several text messages from friends asking questions and getting frustrated for a lack of response. You see the invitation for lunch that is 4 hours old. The missed call from the unknown number. So with no options you swipe in. 

You see red alerts over icons. 3 missed calls, 25 missed texts, 37 emails. It draws you back to a simple time. The time where you weren't bombarded. 

You have now manage to play catch up. Followed up with your phone calls, sent you apology texts, and deleted all of your spam emails for discount funeral insurance and singles looking to meet in your local area. The day is shot but the night still has a chance right? Why not? 

So you throw a few feelers out there. See if anyone is going out tonight. You are off so the world must be right? Wrong! The only people that are around are those you worked with last night. Contrary to popular opinion Mondays aren't a very big drinking night. It's moments like this you think what if I had a normal lifestyle where I worked normal hours and did normal people things. 

This idea crosses your mind and quickly leaves. You realize that you are a zombie and you live for the night. The time where all the people who are up to no good are out. The time where danger hides under the cover of darkness. You are the person who has no issue staying awake till the sun slowly starts to creep up. It takes a strong person to go against your bodies natural instict. When the sun goes up you start your day. When in return you spend several days, especially in the winter, where you never see the sun. But who needs it anyway. It's just a reason to scramble for your sunglasses while driving. 

On a day when you are working, it's simple, just repeat the routine and go back to work. But it's nights like tonight where there are no plans that you start to scramble. We as humans are all creatures of habit. Some will preach that they go where the wind takes them. Those people are some of the biggest bullshitters you may ever meet. Nobody enjoys uncertainty. We have evolved past that. We know where to find our food and shelter and no longer need to fend of predators on a constant basis. Humans are naturally used to a routine. If we weren't creatures of habit a Monday would never be an issue, because bouncing back into a routine is 2nd nature. Wrong again. 

So you ponder. You sit in your bed and think of what to do. Clearly the habits you have don't match up with the rest of the world. Sure you can hit the bar or restaurant and realize that those you meet there are nobody you want to socialize with ever again. Leaves you to wander back to your glacier of a mattress  by an odd hour of the night. You put the phone back on the charger, back on the nightstand, back under the blankets, and back to staring at the drop ceiling tiles. But you keep an ounce of hope that maybe tomorrow will be different. And that there will be a change in the routine. Maybe.