"Whenever I’m feeling resentful about deadlines, or the toddler’s unpredictable sleep patterns, or other incursions upon my temporal sovereignty, I try to remember the cautionary tale of [[Mario Salcedo]], a [[Cuban]] American financial consultant who almost certainly holds the record for the number of nights spent aboard cruise ships. **There’s little question that [[Super Mario]]**—as he’s known to the staff of [[Royal Caribbean Cruises]], the firm to which he’s been loyal for most of his two decades, as a resident of the oceans, with the 2020 coronavirus pandemic the only major interruption—**is in full control of his time**. “I don’t have to take out the garbage, I don’t have to clean, I don’t have to do laundry—I’ve eliminated all those non-value-added activities, and just have all the time in the world to enjoy what I like to do,” he once told the filmmaker [[Lance Oppenheim]], poolside on board the [[Enchantment of the Seas]]. "But it’ll come as no surprise, presumably, to learn that he doesn’t seem all that happy. In [[Lance Oppenheim|Oppenheim]]’s short film, [[The Happiest Guy in the World]], [[Mario Salcedo|Salcedo]] prowls the decks, cocktail in hand, staring out to sea, eliciting tight-lipped smiles and reluctant pecks on the cheek from the people he refers to as his “friends”—the employees of [[Royal Caribbean Cruises]]—and complaining that he can’t get Fox News on the television in his cabin. **“I’m probably the happiest guy in the world!” he informs random groups of other passengers, rather too insistently; and they smile and nod, and politely pretend that they envy him."** --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[routines]], [[hobbies]], **Source** -- [[202410130434 - B - Four Thousand Weeks]] **See Also** -- [[20241014130900 - AtN - Consider the potential of friction as a feature]]