Random California Hotel Room– Angel on probation Jonathan Smith laments that he struggles to achieve a good work-afterlife balance.
“It’s just really hard to separate myself from work,” Jonathan comments. “The nature of my job makes it really difficult because I’m expected to always be on call, you know? I can’t fully relax when the Boss could could throw an assignment at me at any time.”
Jonathan paces at the foot of the single twin-sized bed he shares in the hotel room with his work partner, Mark Gordon. “In some ways I have it better than the other angels on probation, I know that,” Jonathan continues. “I get to spend all this time with my friend and you just never know what kind of bedrooms and hotel rooms we will get to share. Spending all your time driving around with your best friend and sharing rooms with single beds, this is the sort of thing that guys love to do.”
Although Jonathan recognizes that it may look like he is living the dream, he notes that this isn’t what he thought the afterlife would be like.
“I just thought it would be a little more relaxing, you know?” Jonathan continues. “I pictured myself kind of sitting on clouds, maybe reading some books and doing the stuff I didn’t really have time for when I was on Earth the first time. Instead, I’m down here driving around with Mark, constantly on edge waiting for the next assignment from the Boss. I can’t ever fully disengage.”
As Mark starts to protest that Jonathan was making it sound worse than it was, Jonathan continues: “I know it is at least partially my fault. I mean, I messed up a bit and now I’m on probation. Yeah, I can understand that. But just when I had been doing it for nearly forty years and thought I was finally getting to a point where I could really unplug after an assignment, Mark turns up as an assignment. I was glad to help him and he’s a good partner and everything, but now we are together all the time. It is so hard to disconnect off the clock when all of your off hours are spent with your coworker, you know?”
At press time, Mark was grumbling that Jonathan should just use The Stuff to get rid of him if spending 24/7 together was really all that taxing.