New Desk--is it really ME?

A big new desk can make a guy feel pretty good. This one is big enough for a twin bed mattress, by the look of it. I also got a matching lateral file I'll never completely fill and a credenza that has been a good 2nd desk already. All of this is brand-spankin' new from my employer...otherwise, you who know me know I'd never have it. I couldn't afford it, and it's out of character for me.

So why did I request it? Well, I am not the same man as my teacher persona, and he thrives on such things (ties, new pens, retractable pointers...). For him, a new desk was a necessity, for the old one was hampering his style. It makes him think more of himself (like that was possible).

Like new tools or getting the car washed, a new desk is likely just a guy thing. I am coming to embrace it as my own, regardless of how garish, expensive, large...I'm learning to tolerate Mr. J's extravagances. I'm finding it's just cool to have something like it here in this otherwise humdrum office environment.

I've nothing much to compare this to, for most every office I've ever had was cramped and packed with old furniture salvaged from the hallways. There was one year I worked for a college that opened a new building, and they gave me a new office with all new trappings there--but it did not sit well with me, and I defected to a basement office I had to equip from garage sales (overall more consistent with the real me, who at that time was all-of-me, a bleeding heart volunteer manager).

These days, embracing my teacher-self and my old hippy nature, I don't see "us" putting this desk ensemble to the curb any time soon.