So Friday, albeit much more melodramatically than I wished, I quit my job.
You see, despite the fact that I loved working there and I loved the people I worked with, I had a personality conflict with the straight married coworker who threw himself at me constantly. And even then I still liked working with him, but when he was in a bad mood he was rude and passive aggressive and annoying.
So eventually the times I liked working with him became fewer than the times I didn't like working with him. He aggrivated me. He aggrivates everyone else who works there, though, so that was some small consolation.
I started looking for work elsewhere. Hence the new job.
I don't know how many times I've told him that I didn't appreciate the way he talks to me when he has a complaint about anything, and I don't know how many times I've called a meeting with him in order to officially discuss those specific things, one time in the presence of his boss. And his boss, whom I liked a lot, always agreed with me, that his tone was out of line and his word choice was inappropriate. So when he did it again Friday afternoon, with the news of the new job being mine and my overstretched tolerance, I felt I'd done everything within my power to curb the situation before it got to this point.
But he yelled at me again, because he gave me a stack of things he wanted done before I left, fifteen minutes before I was going to leave. And bitches, I'm not on salary. I don't stay any later than I have to. So I was upset about it, because I've also asked the agents not to give me things to do with the website right before I was leaving because I don't want to rush it all.
So he screamed at me, and then called his boss up and screamed about me. So I made a second decision. I picked up my bag, got my things together, and while doing so said in the calmest, most matter of fact voice I was able to muster,
"Richard, I would really appreciate it if over the weekend you did me a favour. I would like you to look deep within yourself, and if you're able to find the plateau of spiritual evolution that will allow you to speak to myself and others around you as adults without rude sarcasm and passive-aggressive word choices, definitely give me a call. Otherwise, I wish this place the best of luck."
He started to say something snippy but by then I was already out the door and had closed it behind me. I called my boss boss up to tell him I'd left, the reasons why I'd left, and that it was very likely for good.
Later that night I called him back again to discuss things. His opinion was, "Richard has fucked himself" because they're not going to have anybody to do what I was doing. He agreed with me, he regretted my decision but he said he really wasn't all that surprised with the way he acts.
I'm not the first person to quit because of him, incidentally.
So today I went in to pick up my final cheque and leave them my keys. I was terrified and dreading it, because already on Friday I'd received three phone calls from the different agents who all said they felt bad I was leaving but they totally understood why.
I went in, opened the office foyer, saw an envelope with my name on it on the door to the office itself. And the locks to the office were changed.
Which I really found insulting.
They've never changed the locks when they fired several agents a few months ago, or when several of them stopped showing up because of Richard, but now because I quit of my own volition I'm apparently a threat to them.
It was childish.
So when I saw it, the last thread of guilt I felt about quitting so soon, when before I wanted to give them two weeks' notice, was cut quite quickly, and all emotional contact with them was severed.
And at any rate, I'm the only one who knows the passwords for the websites and office emails. Stealing the computers is the last thing they should fear me doing.
1 May 2004 at 7:08 pm | No Comments »
the daily things
