I caught Office Space while flipping through channels this weekend and watched the whole thing again … for about the fifth time. Nothing will make you appreciate freelancing more than that movie. Life in a cube may be a distant memory by now or perhaps so fresh it still haunts you in nightmares. But for freelancers who have forgotten, here are five reasons desperation and jealousy appeared in your co-workers’ eyes when they heard you were quitting to work from home:

1. Looks like somebody’s having a case of the Mondays
Every office has one! Ultra-perky and in-your-face, normally the self-appointed Queen of the Coffee Club and unafraid to use baby talk in phone conversations with her significant other. Freelancers don’t see her anymore. Freelancers are the self-appointed rulers of their own Coffee Clubs. When the Monday Blues come calling, freelancers aren’t pressured to act happy. They also don’t need executive privilege to take a two-hour lunch and refresh.

2. The pacer
Just like Bill Lumbergh, everybody has worked at some point for that boss who paces the room occasionally just to make sure the hamster wheel is firmly in motion. It made it darn near impossible to get any freelance work done on the clock (tell me I wasn’t the only guilty one). I still work with a pacer, but it’s my dog and I can tell him to go lay down and he listens.

3. The O-face
You know the co-worker who just shares too much? No boundaries? Too much information? You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your co-workers. When it comes to freelancing, the best two words are no co-workers. While some less introverted freelancers may view this isolation as a negative, it can easily be replaced by alternative social outlets like a book club or golf game. Unlike Office Space hero Peter Gibbons, freelancers don’t have to listen to anybody talk about their “O-face” ever again.

4. Paper jam?
When a technology upgrade is in order, freelancers aren’t stuck waiting for their boss to ask the next boss to ask the next boss, who might get around to considering the request next millenium. And freelancers can still beat up their old fax machine with a baseball bat … or donate it to charity and use it as a tax write-off.

5. I believe you have my stapler
OK, nobody wants to identify with Milton, but ‘fess up. People steal stuff off your desk and it really annoys you. Or maybe it’s just me. Now, when that stapler you so carefully put back in its place comes up missing, the list of suspects is considerably shorter. My investigations usually don’t extend past dog, cat, significant other and toddler; the latter suspect has a rap sheet a mile long. Of course, there’s always the outside chance you will be forced to take your hard-earned money and replace stolen office supplies. At least if you’re a freelancer, the IRS rewards you.

So there you have it – five reasons to love your Office Space. Tied for Reason #6: You always park near the door and you get the window with a view. Office, sweet office, don’t ever change.

Hayli Morrison is a former newspaper reporter of five years turned full-time freelance writer. She muses primarily on real estate and finance for four national trade magazines and two Banks.com blogs. She lives in Music City USA, where her spare time is spent working on her golf game and writing the next big hit. You can visit her blog at banks.com/blogs/realestate