Longing for a Desk

I am a month into my summer vacation, living at home in the suburbs of Chicago and only missing one thing. During the school year I live in Chicago but when I think about the things I miss about school only one thing comes to mind, my desk. I miss a dingy desk in my dingy dorm room! My house doesn’t have a desk anywhere for me, needless to say that my room at home is packed with stuff. I remember growing up with a desk in my room; I have no idea what I filled it with being that I was no older than 13. Then after several moves, and several new pieces of furniture, I gave up a desk for a chair in my bedroom. I didn’t really know what I was missing before college, and then I moved into my dorm that already had a desk there and then I was in heaven.

I can’t exactly pinpoint my longing for a desk; it could be that I like a central place to keep all of my stuff, or I like to be able to sit in a chair, in front of a desk and use my computer. Using a computer, keeping papers, and storing simple office supplies are just simpler at a desk. Basically, instead of keeping my stationary and my remote controls in the same place is not really convenient, at least for me. By the end of school year, my desk was my command center. Everything I did in my room was done at my desk. I loved it.

What is it about desks that make people feel more productive? I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much about not having desk, being that I have one at my job. I’ve worked in the same office for about two years now, and this summer I was given my own desk. I don’t share this desk, and I do what I want with the desk. My first week was spent organizing the desk, moving the phone to the opposite side (which proved difficult with a short phone cord), cleaning drawers out, throwing out papers, and rounding up all the loose pens that somehow found a home in every drawer. However, I filled the desk in a matter of hours, because I tend to acquire a lot of papers for my job and need to keep them within reaching-distance. So I really can’t call the desk at the office “my desk” because it really doesn’t have anything to do with me, besides what I do at work, which isn’t really the best description of me.

Come August when school starts, I will be supplied with a desk again and everything will be right in the world.

Etos

Oscar de la Renta

Bungalow 5

Aero, NYC