Jamie Yourdon
  • Home
  • Events
  • Press
  • Unbound

Tucking in my shirt

9/28/2016

0 Comments

 
On the first stop of my book tour, in Great Falls, Virginia, I told my audience it was a momentous occasion: that morning I'd tucked in my shirt. This comment got a laugh, so I said it again: I'd tucked in my shirt and I'd tied my shoes, a momentous occasion, indeed.

These days I conduct freelance work from home, but for the two years I spent writing Froelich's Ladder (and the two years prior to that), I was the office manager at a CPA firm in Northwest Portland. I wrote fiction while filing people's tax returns and, you know, "working." My boss could tell I was up to no good. Or, if he wasn't absolutely certain, he was suspicious. I figured, the man was leasing my brain for nine hours at a time; if there was only enough work to occupy three hours, well, I'd spend the difference as I saw fit.

Tax season lasts from early February though early April. No one gets their act together in January and CPAs burn out by 4/1, muttering, "File an extension." Sure, there's a burst of activity in September when those extensions come due, but most of the calendar year is spent twiddling one's thumbs. Me, I made coffee. I ordered sporks. I tucked in my shirt and tried not to spill on myself, lest I be forced to pay for dry-clean. I wasn't opposed to earning a living -- if anything, I work longer and harder now than I did then. I was, however, opposed to faking it, which is what I was doing.

I'd like to say I got a book deal and quit in heroic fashion, but that just wasn't the case. I tucked in my shirt until the very last day, when I quietly announced my intention never to return. Since then, with the exception of a few weddings, my attire has remained casual -- until now. For you, Virignia, it's worth tucking in my shirt. Same for you, New Jersey, New York, and Maine. There's nothing fake about it.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Unbound

    This is a repository for JY's original content that's yet to be bound in a book -- essays, short fiction, etc. There's little rhyme or reason, so jump in!

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    May 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Events
  • Press
  • Unbound