Saturday, February 17, 2007
After five years of working the same office job, Steve recently quit to spend four months performing in a Second City show on a cruise ship with his girlfriend.
Steve: I spent five years thinking I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible and then the last day I all of a sudden realized all the security and comfort I had taken for granted was going away. As I trained my replacement, I realized all the little things I could have done to make my own job easier. Little organizational things. But doing those things would have meant admitting to myself that I was staying there for some length of time.
There was a going away party on his last day with a cake and "a bag of presents."
Steve: I think I was just a fixture there. There is so much turn-over in the non-profit world that anyone who stays for any length of time becomes kind of like an office mascot.
Me: So, you were the guy who cared the least about the job, and was always determined that this would be temporary, but you ended up staying there much longer than most people.
Steve: Exactly. In a way, that was what allowed me to stay so long. If I had been more committed, I would have become frustrated. I would have cared too much. Instead, I put my blinders on and lasted.
Steve leaves for the cruise early next month. Barcelona. Florence. Rome. Naples. Istanbul. Egypt. France. Croatia. Etc.
