Desks - One for Every Stage of Life

Desks are an amazing fixture in our lives, and not just for part of it. There is a desk for nearly every stage we go through along life's path. From the preschool years all the way through our golden age, a desk seems to be something that we use and adapt to each unique situation we find ourselves in at each stage.

It is amazing how the children's furniture industry has developed what may seem like a silly adaptation of the normal student desk for kids as young as 2 or 3. These are usually made from molded plastic and come in a myriad of bright colors. These youngsters can learn to scribble and write and color on these desks. Some have little bells and whistles and other doo dads attached to them to further delight and entertain junior.

When the child grows up a bit more and goes off to school he is introduced to the wonderful world of private space defined by his very own desk. It probably has at least one shelf where he can put his crayons and paper. I remember how tickled I was with the little desk I had in kindergarten. It was pretty basic, but it was mine.

As we get older we move into middle school and then high school. These desks were always sort of a disappointment to me. I liked the desks I had as a younger student that had shelves and maybe even a lift top surface. The desks in high school weren't really much more than a chair with an attached hinged surface. They always felt too small, with barely enough room to put an open notebook and textbook out for use. Going off to college improves the situation a little bit. At least some of the classes have long rows of tables for students to use as desks rather than those small little chair desks.

After college the desks seem to grow, as if they are some sort of status symbol in our culture. Think big, executive, black walnut, fancy-schmancy. These bad boys tell the whole world that the man or woman behind it is large and in charge. They intimidate and they help keep the social order. If you have a large behemoth desk then you must be important, right? I mean, look at what the lowly workers out in the office have to use. Barely enough room to work at all. Then once you enclose them in their little box with a room divider or two, it definitely makes for a restricted space. This is a far cry from the bosses office. I used to work for a guy whose office actually had enough room in it, not only for his huge desk, but for a couple recliners and a conference table. It wasn't cramped. Maybe he was more important after all. He thought so anyway.

Old age brings a downsizing of all sorts of things. You see old folks having yard sales and making other liquidation efforts. They just don't need all that stuff anymore. The desks they use tend to shrink as well. Out goes the large desks they once used as part of their business lives, and in comes a smaller, more practical option. These desks can even be as simple as a tv tray for those who are bed ridden.

No matter what stage of life we find ourselves in, desks are there to serve us faithfully.