Well the site is called The Big Desk isn’t it? Of course that was meant to represent taking responsibility for the direction and quality
of your life. It’s the guy at the big desk that has the final say as far as decisions go and in matters of your life, that would be you.
But today I wanted to write about something a little less dramatic, I’m going to write about a desk, a few desks actually – ya, real
desks.
When I think to my youth about what associations I could possible have with a desk three images rise to the surface and they all
have a similar tone. A desk to me represents authority while I’m sure for others a desk may represent menial work, office work or
school work. I’ll share my desk associations and if you have any, silly as it may be, then by all means share with us.
Desk association number one may be the same for any child of an executive. I have some (by now rather vague) recollections of
going to my father’s place of work when I was quite young. He was a commercial real estate executive and I recall that when I
went for a visit he had what seemed to be a huge, marvelous office and there he sat, behind what seemed like some kind of
imperial desk. No doubt it was closer to an average office with a typical business desk but to an impressionable young lad the desk
just exuded power. He had a secretary and a few co-workers that seemed to (from my innocent vantage point) be at the ready for
his every command. Like a General behind the desk that would steer history he would wave the mighty pen like it was a saber.
These are the dim recollections of a middle aged guy thinking back forty years in time. But I do still carry that image of Dad sitting
behing the power desk.
The second recollection of a desk also has to do with being in charge but in a comical way. The great American Sit-Com MASH was launched when I was begining grade school. I was a big fan of Hawkeye Pearce and the idea of going to work in a bathrobe. Funnily enough I can do that today (work from home). One of the things that stuck to me from that show was that it didn’t matter how bright you were, in regards to being in command. It matter where you sat. Henry Blake was no rocket scientist but he’s the guy that sat behind the desk. Remember the desk flying through the air strung up to a helicopter? Whether they like it or not the Doctors all had to listen to Henry. It’s the big cheese that gets the fancy desk. Coincedentally about fifteen years later my father purchased a desk to use at home and it was quite similar to Henry’s desk.
The third desk memory goes back to grade school. I have a memory of having something to do that required me to sit beside the teacher. At her desk looking towards the class you could sense the power. The desk felt like a throne, a place where orders were dictated from. It’s a weird memory, a little cloudy, but the essence of being the one in control – the one behind the desk – was pretty palpable. It was easy to see why the teacher enjoyed her position. The desk itself of course was nothing to spectacular, but the vibe that it gave off was magical.
Of course as inocence leaves so does the illusions that the desk itself holds some kind of power. I sit in front of my computer desk writing this and feel no sense of command. It is now only a functional piece of office equipment. But at least it’s my desk…and I like it.
