The tortoise Wins the race.

If I had to make a motto that described Sandpoint, Idaho it would be "slow, thorough and really fucking good." Everything here takes a little longer, but is always worth the wait. We don't have a lot of fast food, but the restaurants here are some of the best I've ever been to. I definitely prefer our little "cafe's" to McDonald's any day and I seriously prefer our mom and pop diners over even the fancier chains, like cheesecake factory. I always have to wait a couple minutes more for my coffee at the local shop than I would at Starbucks, but it's perfect every time, and where else could you get a decaf mocha, decaf tea, organic coffee or the best cinnamon rolls in the world all while sitting in a comfy chair and staring up at the ceiling covered with coffee bags from around the world? Shopping may take a while because I can't go to the super mega strip mall complex with 10 department stores in it, but the products are quality, the shop owners know me by sight, and if it's not raining, walking downtown is fun.

An area where this attitude particularly benefits me is my job. Throughout my life, I have always been the last one finished, but usually also the one with a lot more polish than anyone else. I am a social worker, and most social work jobs are geared toward high case loads and fast service. In my job, I am supposed to help people the best way I know how, and I have the time to do it. We're allotted anywhere from 2-14 hours a week (the average on my caseload is probably 9) to spend with each client. Any time I have a question or need to run something by someone, I can slow down and do it. There is no more of this "you're spending way too much time with these people who you are helping to keep sane and helping to make decisions that could affect the rest of their lives and you're wasting waaaayy too much time on asking questions that you should already know the answer to." If I have an idea, they say "sure, we can slow down to figure out how to do this." I feel so important and so at home now, it's crazy. All my life I thought I just couldn't do well or maybe I couldn't find the right job, but it turns out, I was just in the wrong place.