Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

There are things I don’t want to know. Knowing those things means I have to do some work that I just don’t want to do.

Life is full of headaches. There are more than enough headaches for each day. I don’t need any more headaches.

Then some well-meaning person walks in the door with, “I was just checking on the ABC regulations regarding ABC things, and we are supposed to be tracking something and filing weekly and monthly reports on something regarding ABC things.”

Huh? That’s six more headaches. I don’t need six more headaches. Can’t we ignore this?

“No,” replies the well-meaning person. “I’m lucky to have caught this early enough so that we don’t get into real trouble on ABC with the ABC regulations and regulators and investigators and …”

Lucky? Lucky to have caught this? No. That is not lucky. That is another big headache.

Now that I have been dutifully informed, I know a thing I don’t want to know. I know that I have another headache and another thing that must be done today. The day—and all the resources of the day—are the same. The list of things to do this day is longer.

There are things I don’t want to know.