Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Multiple Times

Breaking up is hard to do and I’ve been stressing about giving notice here at this job.  I work with a group of guys on a variety of levels.  Out of ten guys, there are only two that I’m “meh” about. The rest I have been dreading saying “Peace, I’m out”.

It’s been fun working in boy world, as I’d suspected.  Boys have no filter and little memory.  I’ve found that they are often action-oriented as well, which is how I’m wired.  Having worked in a predominately women oriented workplaces, the change is refreshing.  Not for one second disrespecting my past coworkers, most of whom are great, it’s just different.

Anyway.  I’ve lied my face off for a month about leaving so just the relief of not doing that is remarkable.  I didn’t think that it would bother me as much as it did.  I mean, I’ve been here five minutes, I don’t owe anyone anything really.

One of my favorite guys is a hipster but not in the obnoxious way; in the laid back, cool kind of way.  He’s #2 in the food chain here so he was who I told first.  He’s the kindest guy, really.  His immediate response was pleasure at the opportunity I’ve been given and said “We just want the best for you and are happy for your success. I’m sad that you’re leaving though.”  It made me a little teary.

The second person I talked to was the “boss”, who is kind of like Michael Scott from the Office.  He was fine, I caught just a flicker of annoyance and that’s okay.  I wasn’t worried about telling him.  He’s one that I’m meh about.

Then the difficulty level went up from there.  One of the guys I work with the most is kind of socially awkward and I get the impression that the person who previously had this job wasn’t very nice to him.  I mean, he was initially surprised when I was kind and helpful toward him and it broke my heart a little.  The look of disappointment on his face when I told him was tough.  I’m going to train the new person to be extra nice to him.

I don’t usually refer to someone by their ethnicity but it’s necessary in this situation. The finance guy is East Indian and he was one of the first friends I made here.  I didn’t have to tell him, someone else did.  So I got to just wait until I saw him for his reaction. 

As I was talking to socially awkward guy, I heard him approaching.  He came around the corner, stood in front of me, threw his arms out and loudly said “What.the.fuck.man!?!?!” in his East Indian accent.  It just made me laugh.  I enjoy him so much and I’ll miss talking to him.

Unfortunately, the guy I work one-on-one with was out this week so he heard through the grapevine.  Today is the first day that he’s been here.  I was worried about his disappointment but he’s been a complete smart ass about it, in the best way.  I’m now referred to as the “short-timer”, which has been funny because I’m also not tall and he really is.  He’ll start to give a task or instruction then has said “Eff it, you don’t care anymore” and laugh.

Now I have nine days to just hang out.  Any training that was remaining has now been shelved so I openly listen to podcasts and read the news for four hours.  The person replacing me doesn’t start for another week so I’m not looking forward to the next week of leisure.