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wishful thinking (about work)

68 replies

Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:16

A large proportion of my career was busy frontline work with the NHS, and then later on a frantic admin role. I am supposed to be on a team of six currently, which has been a team of three for quite a while and as of this morning, two people have just handed in their notice.

I am exhausted. In my bones, I am so tired.

I just want to work in a tiny cute bookshop on the top of the hill that gets no foot traffic. The owner is a rich benefactor and therefore doesn't complain about sales at all and pays his staff very well, and to ensure that the local college kids have meaningful work experience, they get to run the shop at weekends. They do it very well because it's a bit of an honour to get chosen, so when you come in on Monday, everything is as it should be.

During the week, the shop closes slightly early on a Wednesday and Friday (And during high summer doesn't open on Wednesday - but you still get paid). It has a tiny coffee /tea area with a comfy sofa at the back. The tea and coffee area is stocked by the local patisserie, and the delicious sugar-free and low-calorie cakes are provided by the local ladies, who arrive red-cheeked and smiley from a shop across the road every morning. It fills the space with the smell of rich coffee and sweet bakewell tarts.

The rich benefactor likes to do the ordering books and enjoys un boxing and arranging them, so you don't even have to do that . Your job is just to man the front desk, read the books you fancy and smile at people when they come in (which is very rare).

Sigh.

OP posts:
OverlyFragrant · 13/10/2025 12:18

Ask JK if she'd like to open a bookstore 😂😂

Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:21

You know, I wouldn't mind being a front for MI6 or even being a literary enterprise, whose sole purpose is to hide a magical portal hidden behind the second-to-last bookshelf, unironically labelled ' travelling, guides, adventures and unique destinations'

OP posts:
WonsWoo · 13/10/2025 12:23

That sounds amazing. As a fellow NHS person hanging on by a thread, I would be delighted to come and cover at the bookshop if you need to go to an appointment or take some leave!

GnomeDePlume · 13/10/2025 12:24

My work fantasy is making lovely clothes for plus size women. They will arrive in my delightful garden sewing studio. We will discuss fabric. I will measure them. We will discuss different clothing styles. They will place orders and happily pay a substantial deposit. I will then make the clothes and post them off.

Sadly in reality I am an accountant and them books won't cook themselves.

@Trappedatwork you have my sympathy and in my fantasy work life I promise not to visit your bookshop.

ICouldHaveCheckedFirst · 13/10/2025 12:25

Sounds blissful, OP!
I'd be a regular customer in your bookshop.

Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:26

ICouldHaveCheckedFirst · 13/10/2025 12:25

Sounds blissful, OP!
I'd be a regular customer in your bookshop.

as a MI6 agent or travelling via portal to another world? 😆

I think the benefactor may actually growl at you if you touch one of his books with an actual intention to purchase it (I wonder if he is a werewolf?)

OP posts:
Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:29

GnomeDePlume · 13/10/2025 12:24

My work fantasy is making lovely clothes for plus size women. They will arrive in my delightful garden sewing studio. We will discuss fabric. I will measure them. We will discuss different clothing styles. They will place orders and happily pay a substantial deposit. I will then make the clothes and post them off.

Sadly in reality I am an accountant and them books won't cook themselves.

@Trappedatwork you have my sympathy and in my fantasy work life I promise not to visit your bookshop.

Your garden sewing studio sounds beautiful. Is it a Victorian Glasshouse style? Glass, with wrought iron furniture and greenery standing tall and fragrant. Or more clean modern space, open spaces with garden views and with greenery woven amongst all your sewing equipment?

( trying to avoid my inbox and the imminent nervous breakdown is about to happen by inserting myself into other people's work dreamlands)

OP posts:
Guavafish1 · 13/10/2025 12:30

I feel the burn too.

I want is to float on warm, calm waters and just stare at the sky. Then, simply eat, sleep, and take each day as it comes—only doing what I truly feel like doing

TheLilacStork · 13/10/2025 12:30

I would like to come too, again from the NHS. Want to work in a beautiful little gift shop/bookshop/ cosy little cafe with perfect cakes and spoil the elderly customers and give them all lovely warm lunches and teas and extra cakes (free of charge). Also want a gorgeous little cat and dog to keep everyone company, perfectly well behaved and non shedding

FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 13/10/2025 12:36

This is similar to my dream but I want a bookshop / coffee shop / chocolate shop.

Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:38

Guavafish1 · 13/10/2025 12:30

I feel the burn too.

I want is to float on warm, calm waters and just stare at the sky. Then, simply eat, sleep, and take each day as it comes—only doing what I truly feel like doing

Sounds like you should be the manager of the surf shack, my rich benefactor wants to open on a semi-deserted island. It comes with a lovely little cozy nook of a cottage, but while rustic-looking -looking has all the modern amenities of comfort and out the back has a boardwalk that goes down to the totally secluded beach.

The locals that come by the surf shack bring tasty local delights, Cold smoothies with the rich intensity that you can only get from being grown on an island under the hot sun.

Despite being a semi-deserted island, it does have a Road to a larger island that has all the amenities you would ever need.

As the surf shack is dependent on the weather there is no set opening hours and thereforeRich benefactor wouldn't expect a set schedule to be maintained. so you could simply, Take time in the water, eat, sleep and enjoy each beautiful day under the sunshine

OP posts:
Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:42

TheLilacStork · 13/10/2025 12:30

I would like to come too, again from the NHS. Want to work in a beautiful little gift shop/bookshop/ cosy little cafe with perfect cakes and spoil the elderly customers and give them all lovely warm lunches and teas and extra cakes (free of charge). Also want a gorgeous little cat and dog to keep everyone company, perfectly well behaved and non shedding

Oh my, I hadn't realised the bookshop was missing anything, you're right, it needs my snoring elderly little pug curled up with all his kitten brothers piled on top of him ( like he currently is) - I had totally forgotten that the rich benefactor would have, of course, allowed me to take my pets to work. Thank you for reminding me that that would probably be an option.

Though I now have to do a little rejig of the cosy bookshop to move the table of patisserie delights away from the Comfortable, squishy sofa, which would provide a handy ramp for a small pug to gain access to the table and sweet treats.

OP posts:
NarwhalBuddy · 13/10/2025 12:52

This is my dream as well @Trappedatwork

so much so, that I have been playing The Tiny Bookshop on my gaming system. It’s a nice bit of escapism and as close as I will get.

GnomeDePlume · 13/10/2025 13:09

Trappedatwork · 13/10/2025 12:29

Your garden sewing studio sounds beautiful. Is it a Victorian Glasshouse style? Glass, with wrought iron furniture and greenery standing tall and fragrant. Or more clean modern space, open spaces with garden views and with greenery woven amongst all your sewing equipment?

( trying to avoid my inbox and the imminent nervous breakdown is about to happen by inserting myself into other people's work dreamlands)

My sewing studio will be modern with underfloor heating, aircon and huge glazed doors which open onto the garden. It has a changing room, toilet and kitchen area. There is a cutting table, a sewing table, a draughting table. There is a seating area for clients to sit, sip coffee and choose fabrics and styles.

Trappedatwork · 14/10/2025 10:19

The inbox is scary (and no focus in the world is going to have me clear 5 people's full-time workload) - so I am going to dissociate.

The Bookshop is extra cozy today because the weather is grey , the rain is hammering down, the wind is blowing and the bookshop is a warm haven. The ladies have been with their pastries, and the shop smells like warm buttery croissants and brewed rich chocolatey coffee.

I'm currently without a book to read, so I'm perusing the pile at the end of the front desk that has been piquing my interest. I will pick one out, go make myself a lovely cup of tea and settle into the big chair behind the desk where I can see the front door and watch the big oak tree across the road bend in the rain, dropping its golden leaves across the pavement.

The book will transport me away to interesting places while the windows steam up a little bit because of the warmth in the shop. If I feel inspiration bite I will go and help rich benefactor who is currently manhandling a spooky season display for books in the window. He really enjoys this type of puttering and tinkering and we spent many hours in comfortable silence.

Right time to pick a book, make some tea and get comfortable.

OP posts:
Trappedatwork · 14/10/2025 10:20

GnomeDePlume · 13/10/2025 13:09

My sewing studio will be modern with underfloor heating, aircon and huge glazed doors which open onto the garden. It has a changing room, toilet and kitchen area. There is a cutting table, a sewing table, a draughting table. There is a seating area for clients to sit, sip coffee and choose fabrics and styles.

It sounds like a beautiful place. Functional, but welcoming.

OP posts:
akkakk · 14/10/2025 10:22

Your way with words is lovely - have you considered writing books?!

SparklyCardigan · 14/10/2025 10:27

My fantasy business is a wee wool shop and haberdashery in a quaint yet strangely bustling Highland village.
I can't even knit.

topcat2014 · 14/10/2025 10:27

We run a small art gallery that opens 11 to 430 tue to Fri and 10 to 5 Sat, 11 to 3 sun. I do the weekends. I have been known to sit watching the rain on the window whilst drinking my latte. Might even browse MN at the time. Slight downside is we don't sell enough really

MerlinsButler · 14/10/2025 10:27

@Trappedatwork I love this amd you have set the scene so well I want to work there.

I think you should definitely turn this into a nice little cozy mystery / fantasy story - yes with the benefactor as a werewolf and the magic portal! I think you may have found your new vocation.

SparklyCardigan · 14/10/2025 10:35

There's a fantasy novel called Legends and Lattes about a magical bookshop, you should give it a read!

Trappedatwork · 14/10/2025 11:12

SparklyCardigan · 14/10/2025 10:27

My fantasy business is a wee wool shop and haberdashery in a quaint yet strangely bustling Highland village.
I can't even knit.

would you sell sparklycardigans? : D

OP posts:
SparklyCardigan · 14/10/2025 12:07

Trappedatwork · 14/10/2025 11:12

would you sell sparklycardigans? : D

In all the colours of the rainbow, handmade by Highland grannies (and grandpas, it's an equal opportunity enterprise!).

Trappedatwork · 14/10/2025 13:33

akkakk · 14/10/2025 10:22

Your way with words is lovely - have you considered writing books?!

I am an avid reader, but have severe dyslexia. While there are assistance applications (I have a speech-to-text system), I've never had the 'big idea' that has got me to commit to chuntering out a book. I always wanted to be a writer in my youth, and I am sure I bored my poor Grandmother to tears with my horse-obsessed, Silver Brumby-esque teenage angst first drafts.

She was a writer, and in my humble opinion, a very good one. Watching her get rejected multiple times broke my heart. I am way too soft-hearted and take things too personally for the cutthroat world of publishing.

OP posts:
Blingismything · 14/10/2025 13:35

The cakes sound amazing, I’d be a customer very, very occasionally.

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