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There is a guy I heard about in UniCo who came home from work one night, walked in, and said, "Hi, honey, I'm home!" And his greeting echoed back to him from the empty rooms of his house. His wife had taken everything: the kids, the dog, the goldfish, the furniture, the carpets, the appliances, the curtains, the pictures on the wall, the toothpaste, everything. Well, just about everythingactually, she left him two things: his clothes (which were in a heap on the floor of the bedroom by the closet; she had even taken the hangers), and a note written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror which said, "Good-bye, you bastard!" As I drive down the street to my house, that kind of vision is running through my mind, and has been periodically since last night. Before I pull into the driveway, I look at the lawn for the tell-tale signs of tracks left by the wheels of a moving van, but the lawn is unmarred. I park the Mazda in front of the garage. On my way inside, I peek through the glass, Julie's Accord is parked inside, and I look at the sky and silently say, "Thank You. "She's sitting at the kitchen table, her back to me as I come in. I startle her. She stands up right away and turns around. West are at each other for a second. I can see that the rims of her eyes are red. "Hi," I say. "What are you doing home?" Julie asks. I laughnot a nice laugh, an exasperated laugh. "What am / doing home? I'm looking for you!" I say. "Well, here I am. Take a good look," she says, frowning at me. "Yeah, right, here you are now," I say. "But what I want to know is where you were last night. "I was out," she says. "All night? "She's prepared for the question. "Gee, I'm surprised you even knew I was gone," she says. "Come on, Julie, let's cut the crap. I must have called the number here a hundred times last night. I was worried sick about you. I tried it again this morning and nobody answered. So I know you were gone all night," I say, "And, by the way, where were the kids? "They stayed with friends," she says. "On a school night?" I ask. "And what about you? Did you stay with

a friend?" She puts her hands on her hips. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did stay with a friend," she says. "Man or woman? "Her eyes get hard on me. She takes a step forward. "You don't care if I'm home with the kid's night after night, "she says. "But if I go away for one night, all of a sudden you have to know where I've been, what I've done. "I just feel you owe me some explanation," I say. "How many times have you been late, or out of town, or who knows where?" she asks. "But that's business," I say. "And I always tell you where I've been if you ask. Now I'm asking. "There's nothing to tell, "she says. "All that happened was I went out with Jane. "Jane?" It takes me a minute to remember her. "You mean your friend from where we used to live? You drove all the way back there? "I just had to talk to someone," she says. "By the time we'd finished talking, I'd had too much to drink to drive home. Any- way, I knew the kids were okay until morning. So I just stayed at Jane's. "Okay, but why? How did this come over you all of a sudden?" I ask her. "Come over me? All of a sudden? Alex, you go off and leave me night after night. It's no wonder that I'm lonely. Nothing suddenly came over me. Ever since you got into management, your career has come first and everyone else takes whatever is left. "Julie, I've just tried to make a good living for you and the kids," I tell her. "Is that all? Then why do you keep taking the promotions?" "What am I supposed to do, turn them down? "She doesn't answer. "Look, I put in the hours because I have to, not because I want to," I tell her. She still doesn't say anything. "All right, look: I promise I'll make more time for you and the kids," I say. "Honest, I'll spend more time at home. "Al, it's not going to work. Even when you're home, you're at the office. Sometimes I've seen the kids tell you something two or three times before you hear them. "It won't be like that when I get out of the jam I'm in right now," I say. "Do you hear what you're saying? 'When I get out of the jam I'm in right now.' Do you think it's going to change? You've said all that before, Al. Do you know how many times we've been over this? "Okay, you're right. We have been over it a lot of times. But, right now, there's nothing I can do," I say. She looks up at the sky and says, "Your job has always been on the line. Always. So if you're such a marginal employee, why do they keep giving you promotions and more money? "I pinch the bridge of my nose. "How do I make you understand this," I say. "I'm not up for another promotion or pay raise this time. This time it's different. Julie, you have no idea what kind of problems I've got at the plant. "And you have no idea what it's like here at home," she says. I say, "Okay, look, I'd like to spend more time at home, but the problem is getting the time. "I don't need all your time," she says. "But I do need some of it, and so do the kids. "I know that. But to save this plant, I'm going to have to give it all I've got for the next couple of months. "Couldn't you at least come home for dinner most of the time?" she asks. "The evenings are when I miss you the most. All of us do. It's empty around here without you, even with the kids for company. "Nice to know I'm wanted. But sometimes I even need the evenings. I just don't have enough time during the day to get to things like paperwork," I say. "Why don't you bring the paperwork home," she suggests. "Do it here. If you did that, at least we could see you. And maybe I could even help you with some of it. "I lean back. "I don't know if I'll be able to concentrate, but. . . okay, let's try it." She smiles. "You mean it? "Sure, if it doesn't work, we can talk about it," I say. "Deal? "Deal," she says. I lean toward her and ask, "Want to seal it with a handshake or a kiss? "She comes around the table and sits on my lap and kisses me. "You know, I sure missed you last night," I tell her. "Did you?" she says. "I really missed you too. I had no idea singles bars could be so depressing." "Singles bars?" "It was Jane's idea," she says. "Honest. "I shake my head. "I don't want to hear about it." "But Jane showed me some new dance steps," she says. "And maybe this weekend"I give her a squeeze. "If you want to do something this weekend, baby, I'm all yours. "Great," she says and whispers in my ear, "You know, it's Friday, so ... why don't we start early? "She kissed me again. And I say, "Julie, I'd really love to, but . . .""But? "I really should check in at the plant," I say. She stands up. "Okay but promise me you'll hurry home tonight. "Promise," I tell her. "Really, it's going to be a great weekend."

QUESTION:

What type of career do you think is best? 1) work really hard early and then retire early or 2) work slower to enjoy life along the way even if it means retiring later or 3) other - please explain.