"I do not know that you have done any work at all," she retaliated. "I've been at meetings the whole day," I pointed out to her. "But you had said you did not wish to work at an office any more, so you could have more time for yourself," my wife found a hole in my argument. |
"I had hoped for more free time," I agreed, "but it seems most of it is spent on the road, commuting from one meeting to another." "Having breakfast and lunch at other people's expense can hardly be exhausting," said my wife. |
"To begin with," I said, "having a discussion over a meal is harder than usual, because you need to be both social and professional." "I do not agree," she said, "what, after all, have you done by way of work today?" |
"To begin with," I said, "I went to interview a Japanese author, and he did not know any English." "I don't count that as work," said my wife, "besides, I can think of more unpleasant ways to pass time." "Wait," I said, "my next meeting was at a publisher's office where I had to identify pictures for captioning." |
"You must have enjoyed looking at the pictures," hazarded my wife. "Not really," I said, "because the pictures had gone for scanning to the printer's, and the photocopies were so poor, I couldn't identify any of the people." |
"Didn't you have a meeting at a fancy restaurant for lunch?" my wife asked. "I did," I said, "with an art dealer from out of town. But all her other guests were women, and as the only man present, I had to keep reminding them not to speak critically of other men." "I'm sure it was a spirited discussion, and nothing like work," said my wife. |
"Next," I continued, "I had to go to a studio to try and match my script to the edited version of a documentary film, which meant having to write it all over again." "Seeing clips of footage," said my wife, "how can you call that work?" |
"By the time I left the studio," I said, "it was already late, and I had to attend a number of functions before coming home." "Such as?" asked my wife. |
"Such as a book reading that was extremely tedious," I said, "followed by a dash to the launch of a new store where the chief guest, whom I wanted to interview, did not arrive in time." |
"What fun you seem to have had," said my wife, "but I'm glad you're home now." "Not before I rushed to the opening of an art exhibition," I pointed out, "just so I could show my face. And since a restaurateur I know was celebrating the winning of an award, I had to make an appearance there as well." |
"Is this what you call work?" my wife queried. "What about having to write down all my interviews, for which I seem to have no time left," I said to her. "I do not know about that," said my wife, "but for now you are coming to my friend Sarla's house, because I had promised her we would, even if you have to work all through the night to meet your deadlines. |
Later, at Sarla's house, another friend said, "Your wife has been telling me about all the free time you have now, and how you're able to spend it at leisure doing all the things you couldn't do earlier." |