A’s pointless chatter

I haven’t vanished off the face of the Earth,
no. I was reminded a couple of days ago that my blog has been neglected lately.
Aside from the usual hustle and bustle my inspiration seems to have hibernated
along with the sheer eternal winter here. Well, with mini spurts of spring in
between, but then just as you start digging out spring and summer clothes, you
realize it is snowing again.
What better way to defy merciless winter temperatures than by eating hot soup,
and since I am determined to make Thai soup, I decide to venture out, wrapped
in various layers, heading to  Naschmarkt in search of Thai basil and Co.
I am lucky, most days I can shift my schedule around, for instance whenever I
need to give in to cravings for Thai food. On days like these I love my job, on
most others I do too.
While I spoon up the divine result of my culinary efforts I listen to some
social worker commenting on the radio. He is talking about something referred to as the "manager’s disease", pointing out that contrary to one’s
expectations there are more poor people who suffer from it. "One may
conclude that poverty causes more stress." He continues his monologue.
However, according to him this is only partly true and does not explain the
higher prevalence of the disease amongst those economically less favored.
Rather, the well paid manager is able to interrupt work more often by investing
into a brief escape, such as a weekend trip or a massage, and thus breaking
with the distressing pattern more easily than his poverty stricken counterpart
who has to keep going, driven by survival. While often others depend on him/her
as the breadwinner.
According to this theory less poverty
equals more freedom.
On the other hand, doesn’t  wealth often generate stress on its
own? Worries about maintaining wealth and possible loss of it. So once again
the golden middle path seems to be the right one. But there is some truth to
the former theory. The one who does not have to work in order to survive is
able to interrupt work if s/he chooses to and leave stress behind.
I am not necessarily wealthy, but my job does allow for a certain amount of
freedom, such as taking an extended lunch break, walking down to the market,
simply indulging in culinary thoughts… and my thoughts wander back to the vendors who rise early, work
hard and late, defying the cold.
On days like these I do feel fortunate.