If I had known, I would've brought a book.

Our client (who eerily resembles a St. Bernard) asked me yesterday to offer my employees some off-the-clock work for him to remove some plywood from his trailer. One employee could do it for $40, or two employees could do it for $20 each.

Naturally, I'm too conscientious to just hand over the money to the employees and go home, so I sat in my office and twiddled my thumbs (my friends weren't online to chat) until they had finished. I approved the work, paid the employees, and reported to Bernard.

It struck me, as I had nothing to do but itch to go home, that I felt like a teacher who had drawn the short straw and was stuck monitoring after-school detention.