I am Bill Johnson from Pleasantville

I had an epiphany this morning as I was laying in bed in that half-awake, half-asleep state.  I was sort of half-dreaming about talking to my coworkers and defending why I was excited to walk across campus for a meeting.  My reasons were that it was something different and got us out of the office and away from doing the same thing every day.  It was at that moment that I shot up and realized that I was Bill Johnson from Pleasantville!

For those who are unfamiliar with the movie, Bill Johnson is the character played by Jeff Daniels.  He is the soda shop owner and operator.  At various points at the beginning of the movie he gets confused because Bud, played by Tobey Maguire, throws off his routines.  So he starts doing things differently and it energizes him.  But ultimately things go back to normal and he gets discouraged because every day is the same thing.

I feel the same way.  Every day is the same.  I get to work, turn on my computer, put in my notes from the day before, and meet with students all day long.  While each student is different, most meetings are pretty much the same.  They tell me about their classes, we look at grades, discuss future assignments, talk about tutoring needs, etc.  It's so monotonous.

Bill eventually explains to Bud that he gets excited for Christmas every year because that's when he gets to paint a mural on the window.  That's exciting.  I also get excited for the holiday season because we have a door decorating contest at work.  That is fun because I get to be creative.  Like Bill, I think it seems silly to look forward to something so meaningless all year, but I don't have many creative outlets at work, so I have to look forward to something.  Really I just want something different from time to time, much like Bill.

And anything that breaks up my day or makes it more exciting is welcome to me.  Even if that means walking across campus in the middle of the day or decorating my door during a non-holiday season.  Additionally, I would love to own and operate a soda shop.  But that's my little comparison to Bill Johnson.  If you haven't seen Pleasantville, you really should.  It's a wonderful movie.