once upon a time, when i was living in st louis, and i still had a car, and hated my job very much, i used to have a Contingency Dufflebag in the trunk at all times. in the duffle was a few changes of clothes, some crackers and chips, bottled water, toothbrush and toothpaste, travel thing of shampoo, and about $100 in cash. it was there for the day that i finally snapped, left the office for lunch, and just kept driving, abandoning my job, apartment, and favorite local taverns. in retrospect, $100 wouldn't get you very far, especially with gas prices these days.

i don't have the Contingency Duffle any more, but now that we're on the subject, i figured that if i ever had to use the Contingency Duffle, i'd have to change my name at some point, because when i ended up in baja california running a little cantina on the beach, the regulars would need to have a name to call me by. unfortunately, my first choice of name change was HRH Princess Awesome Q. Dangerpants, and most people would probably figure that was a pseudonym, or at least want to see some sort of documentation that i was actually royalty.

writing this now i realize that i don't currently have an escape plan. should i have an escape plan? is NOT having an escape plan a sign of maturity and stability? or is it a sign of settling and lameness? and what are you changing your name to when you finally snap and decide to disappear?