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It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then to
loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more
than just a social thinker. I began to think alone --"to relax," I told myself
-- but I knew it wasn't true.
Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all
the time. I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment
don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself.
I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I
would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we
are doing here?" I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker.
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Man, I like you, and it hurts me to
say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop
thinking on the job, you'll have to find other employment."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with
the boss. "Sweetheart," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you have," she said, starting to cry, "and if you don't stop, I'll want
a divorce!"
"But dear, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said through her rolling tears. "You think as much as
college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep
on thinking we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently, and she began to cry again.
I'd had enough. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the
door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with NPR on the
radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors. They
didn't open: the library was closed. To this day, I believe that a Higher Power
was looking out for me that night. As I sank to the ground clawing at the
unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye.
"Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinker's
Anonymous poster.
Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA
meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was
Porky's Revenge. Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since
the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home.
Life just seemed... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.
Soon, I will be able to vote Republican.
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