Q-Day

I've never really quit anything before. I hated playing little league baseball yet I finished the season out, and then I even went on for one more miserable season that I also finished out. Going away to college was the reason I left part-time jobs; Stew's was fun but I hated Pro Golf. I only stopped my paper route because I was literally unable to do it, with football practice and then band I didn't get home until 8:30pm and I'm pretty sure that would be a little late for a certain old man in a certain red house whose afternoon highlight was the newspaper delivery. I was an altar boy until I was too tall to fit in the robes. I've never dumped anyone before. In general I have a hard time saying "no" to people. Finally, today, August 4th, 2004, I am giving my two weeks' notice to my direct supervisor to officially declare that I will be leaving the Census Bureau.

I'll be handing in my resignation letter in about twenty minutes. As I write this I'm tingling with excitement. As soon as I saw Columbia's '04-'05 academic calendar I learned when fall term classes would start, so I then planned out when my last day would be, and so subsequently counting two weeks before that day I marked when I'd let them know “two weeks from now I'm outta here” (I'm actually giving them two weeks plus one day, not because I'm nice but just for a buffer/extra-safety day in case I couldn't find anyone tomorrow). I've been counting down to this day for the past month, crossing off the days on a calendar I printed out. Turning in my notice is going to be the highlight of my week. Yesterday felt like Christmas Eve.

In all honestly, however, I think it's going to be very anticlimactic. What I'd like to do run into my boss's office, knock all the other stuff off his desk, slam down my letter of resignation, flip him two fingers, and then turn around and run down the hall screaming "I'm %&#$ing outta here!!!" Instead, I have to inform my new direct supervisor (a lady who herself is leaving two weeks after me - why I was assigned to her is beyond me) that I'm leaving (I'm still going to tell my old boss just for fun...mwuhahaha). The anticlimactic part is that I’ll have to hang around and sit on my tush for two weeks, as I doubt they're going to give me anything substantial to do knowing I'm leaving. It's OK, though...I've been sitting on my tush since I've gotten here over a year ago, which is one of the main reasons I'm leaving, anyway.

This is going to feel really good...