Take This Job

Lately it has occurred to me more than once that it might be in my best interest to find a new job. I have really started feeling that nasty dread about going in to work in the mornings. People from the community and other people I work with have started dropping by my office more frequently, offering their pity, asking how I could possibly work with him. So, last week I got really serious about my job-seeking, sending out resumes, making phone calls. I was rewarded with an interview this past Friday.

Normally, I am the queen dork of all interviewees, weird and awkward, stuttering, stammering. I hate the whole process. I expected I would give more of the same at this new interview, a law firm in a neighboring town. For some reason, though, from the moment I stepped into the office, I wasn't nervous at all. A new concept for me, one that I readily embraced.

I interviewed with two lawyers and I was totally on. Smart and articulate and even funny when it was appropriate to be so. I didn't feel like I had to sell myself; I just had to be myself. The more they talked, the more I wanted the job: actual benefits -- vacation, paid holidays and sick days, bonuses -- and a starting salary of more than I have ever made before.

So, I wanted the job so badly that I was afraid of blowing it. Still, I kept my cool. After the interview and the obligatory hand-shaking, they said they would be making a decision by the end of next week. I knew they had several interviews that morning, so it was only natural that they would need a few days. I was still comfortable at that point, feeling like I might actually have a shot.

I headed back to work for my usual tedious Friday-afternoon duties. I received a phone call about two hours after I'd left the interview and was offered the position. I accepted with a loud "Hell, yeah!" -- though to them, it probably sounded more like "Great. Thank you."

So, what's left to do but put in my two weeks. I wrote a very kind letter to my boss and to the school's administrator, but also wanted to tell them both in person. I started with my boss. I gave him the letter (which he didn't bother reading), then told him that I had interviewed for and was offered another job. I calmly explained the reasons that I had been looking and politely told him that I had interviewed and was offered the job that very day. His response? "They must have been desperate."

Golly, I'm going to miss him.