This picture from Flickr was taken at the Detroit thanksgiving day parade. Evidently they are a regular feature of the parade. Many thoughts went through my head when I saw it, as I bet it did with you too. First of course is the thought of marching off in step with the rest of the nine to fives to a job you dislike, unthinking consciously trying to get through another day. Sorry for making it sound so grim, I'm sure there are millions of people who like or love their jobs. I was just not one of them. In the forty-four years of my working life, I went to work each day because I had too. I never hated my work, its just that I always wished I had one of those jobs that people prepare for, yearn for, want more than any other job they could possibly have. One of those jobs that the prime concern is not the amount of money you receive, but just the job itself is important. I think of scientists, the mad scientist if you will, or perhaps an archiologist digging holes in some desert floor, jobs that look deadly boring, but demand all the the persons attention and intelligence.

The other thought that went through my head was harking back to my soldiering days when I had to keep in step with the guy next to me, and wondered how did I get here? I was never much of a soldier so the picture is perfect in symbolizing a civilian pretending to be a soldier, that was me.