I am my own boss.  That could be a country song.  It would go something like this:

I am my own boss, God help me I pray;

I can’t have a sick day, my bills I must pay. 

Vacation?  That’s silly, not in my vocab, 

and really what is a retirement plan?

Someday if I”m lucky, I’ll get a real job,

and dish up the bbq’s at Bob’s Shish Kabob;

but ’til that day happens, there’s spread sheets to do

 and I must continue, ’til my lips turn blue!

I have thought about going back to a regular 9 to 5 job like Dollly Parton instead of singing the 24/7 blues.  It’s been ten years of working for myself.  I’ve seen good times, I’ve seen hard times, I’ve seen the best of times… blah, blah, blah.  The truth is I like working for myself.  I can’t stand other people in authority and no one is as committed as I am to getting the job done.

I worked in an office years ago and usually ended up fixing the mistakes other people made and spending way too much of my lunch time answering phones that would ring off the hook otherwise.  I actually believed in the words, Customer Service.  Naive child that I was.

I’ve been followed into the darkened supply room twice by men old enough to be my father and it wasn’t to ask if I could get the ink toner for them.

I’ve had more catty female comments made to me, around me, above me and below me to last a lifetime.

My husband is always telling me that I wouldn’t make it in the real world anymore.  I’ve gotten accustomed to peace and quiet in my office and wouldn’t be able to stand the smoke swirling outside the front door of the building where all the puffers go to take their break.

And I like being able to work all hours of the day and night when the mood strikes me.  After all, writing and creating are like tabby cats that come and go mysteriously, sometimes vanishing all together. 

Of course being self-employed also means no insurance, no time off and no one to point the finger at when something goes wrong.  That’s the hardest part!  President, Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk that read, “The buck stops here.”  The quickest way to learn this for real is to be in business for yourself.  Although I have been known to blame things on the computer.  It’s an easy target!

The hardest part of being in business for myself is time management.  And not the way you might think.  I have no problem spending hour after hour working on my business.  It’s the time management for my family, the dog, getting to the store, washing clothes.  When my husband tells me in no uncertain terms that he is out of clean underwear that always transports me out of the office. 

In today’s business climate I don’t know that I’d be able to find a job in the corporate world.  Every senior citizen I know has gone back to work and most of the college grads are working at that Shish Kabob place I rhymed about earlier.

So I think I’ll stay in my office, in my own little chair and be whatever I want to be… as long as the creative mood hits me, and the bills get paid.