Campfyre Stories

Greetings, Everyone. I’m Princess and Fyre asked if I would post one of my recent blog entries here for everyone to read (she can explain why). A bit of background first. I’ve been working in my current job for more than five years. Even though I have a Master’s degree, it’s in a more or less useless field (unless I should one day appear on Jeopardy), so I work as an Office Peon. I’ve been looking for something different/better for around two years, periodically going on binges of sending out resumes. I finally got a new job this week and will be leaving my current employment shortly. And thus, on to the post:

I resigned from my current job yesterday and I start the new job on October 1. My last day here is September 26, exactly two weeks notice. I showed remarkable restraint both in my letter of resignation and in my verbal resignation to the boss and uber-boss. Since then, the working environment has gone from chilly to hostile, but whatever. It’s only two more weeks and now I feel totally justified in quitting. To think I was actually starting to feel guilty about leaving everyone here in the lurch!

In my letter of resignation, I was sure to thank them for all the opportunities I’ve had working with this project over the past 5+ years. I did not detail them, but I’ve decided I should detail them somewhere. So, are just a few of my thanks…

Thank you for the opportunity to experience, first hand, institutionalized anti-semitism in one of its more insidious forms. Perhaps next time we can just cut to the chase and you can spray paint swastikas on my desk. I bet Human Resources wouldn’t ignore that.

Thank you for the opportunity to go months without a day off. And for making me feel guilty when I take a day. Or call in sick. Or need to go to the doctor. And for not talking to me for days after I return from vacation.

While I’m at it, thank you for making vacation time requests such a lovely adventure and letting me never be quite sure if I’ll come back from Pennsic to find I’ve been fired.

Thank you for the opportunity to learn that female bosses can sexually harrass female employees even when neither party prefers women in a sexual manner.

Thank you for the opportunity to let my skills go utterly underutilized for all this time. I now feel dumber for working here, something that clearly you feel is essential for participating in the professional and academic arenas.

Thank you for the opportunity to be ignored at work. I’ve always wanted more Me Time.

Thank you for the opportunity to start getting negative performance evaluations only after I spoke to Human Resources about your vacation policy. It seems I’ve developed an attitude problem. That’s been particularly touching.

Thank you for the opportunity to hear about you talking about me, my resignation, and my attitude problem from third parties. I appreciate this chance to learn about both professionalism and its opposite.

I’m sure that this is only the tip of the iceburg of opportunities that I’ve had with this project. Clearly, I should have been more careful with my documentation, so that’s another thing I should be thankful for.

I can’t wait for my exit interview.