La Heim

I would hope everyone, at some point in their lives, needs a mental health day. With my lifestyle and schedule, I don’t get many of those.

The summer before I went to college, I got the opportunity to intern for my district Congressman in Washington, D.C. Huge deal. Well, for my little seventeen-year-old brain, it was a big deal. I got to spend the summer on Capitol Hill, attend a floor meeting (Zzzzzz) and live on Georgetown’s campus. Two months. Alone. You’d think, because I was working, I’d be stressed. Boy, was I so the opposite of stressed. Two months of living college life before I’d actually gone TO college? With a real job?! The other kids in the internship program were using it as an opportunity to drink and hit the clubs. Me? I was working! On Capitol-frickin’-Hill! DUDE!

So, yeah, I was odd. Even at a young age. I like to call it “mature”.

Nowadays, I work. And work. And work. And that’s all I do. And it’s not glamorous. I actually miss those boring floor meetings; the stuffy politicians in their stuffier suits; the hobnobbing with office pages; the rides on the Metro; the long connecting bridge walk from Virginia to Georgetown.

But every year, our Finance team flies down from New York and graces us with their presence. I don’t mean this facetiously. These guys are awesome. I’ve worked for my present company long enough to have enjoyed at least six visits from them. Why are these visits so special? Because these guys are from New York and they do it big time and they do mental health in a big way. Not all the time. Just during our special time of year when they visit and we’re all stressed and cranky and irritable and done with working because, feh, working. Then they book an expensive local restaurant, and do this…




I think I just heard my step-dad yack up a lung looking at this. Mmm, tasty bugs.







If there’s ever a dentist in America who needs assurance that I have a healthy gum line, look no further.

Here’s to life and working and still having jobs. Oh, and mental health days. Don’t forget those.