October• 2018 | 87WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH
Iamtheonlyadministrative
person in the front oice of a
subsidised housing complex that
supports people living with chronic
mental illness.
Ononeparticularlybusy
morning,atenantcameintopay
her rent.
Frazzled,Isaidtoher,“Today
isabitrough.Everhaveoneof
thosedayswhenyoufeeleveryone
isouttogetyou?”
She smiled and replied, “I take
medication for that.”
SUBMITTED BY SARAH PENNISINO STRESS
Afewyearsback,extremestressat
work nearly caused my wife to sufer
anervousbreakdown.Apsychiatrist
helpedhergreatly,andsoonshewas
only seeing him occasionally, just
to check in.
he last time they met, she toldhim, “I have some good news and
some bad news.”
“What’s the good news?”
the doctor asked.
“My company gave me early
retirement,soIhaven’tfeltstressed
foroverayear.”
“hat’s great! What’s the bad
news?”
“Idon’thave a jobnow,soIcan’t
pay you.” SUBMITTED BY D. D.CARTOON: SUSAN CAMILLERI KONAR. ILLUSTRATIONS: GETTY IMAGES
“Mostpeopleusethecloud.
We just stuf paperwork in
the ceiling tiles.”Wo rd Pl a y
I’maretiredteacher.WhenIwasstillintheclassroom,
I would test students’ language comprehension
by asking them to use our ‘words of the week’
inasentence.
When Calvin’s turn arrived, he was assigned
‘supervision’.Hethoughtlongandhard,and then his
face lit up. “Superman has supervision!”
he told the class proudly.
SUBMITTED BY MALCOLM WINSOR