I Quit My Job

Notice given.
Letter of resignation signed, dated, and slipped in the manager's mailbox.
Shift countdown is at number three (or will be on June 27th - yes, that means I do not have any shifts scheduled for the next two weeks, and plan to keep it that way).
Almost there.

You all have had the same fantasy. The one where you send a pile of important papers swirling off the edge of your superior's desk as you rant and rave about the injustices of your time spent at your chosen place of work. Perhaps you rub a coworker's keyboard on your posterior as you tell them exactly what you think of their rotten, no good attitude, or rip off your tie and set it on fire as you wail on about "the noose of our society!". Maybe in your fantasy you are much more composed, and stroll in to your boss's office only to calmly explain how you are suing the company for five years of pain and suffering and they best get themselves a good lawyer. You may rather go the sneaky route and stuff a few sweaty high school pinnies into a main vent, and then call in sick for your last two weeks, all the while chuckling to yourself from your couch whenever you think of your coworkers driving themselves insane trying to identify the source of the mysterious stench that appears whenever the air conditioning starts up. Either way, the fantasy ends with two words, said clearly, succinctly, and practiced over and over in front of the mirror: "I QUIT!"

I gotta say - I've definitely had jobs where this fantasy is played over and over in my head. Thankfully I've always managed to stick it out until something big in my life changed - moving to other provinces, etc., and then I would give my two weeks and be on my best behavior until the very end, so as to leave on good terms. This last year of work, however, has not been like that. I have really enjoyed the floor I have been working on (although I now know for future that I prefer surgical nursing over medicine), my coworkers, my rotation - and for this, I am thankful. I did, however, have a bit of a spring in my step when I dropped off my official letter of resignation yesterday. But that is because it means we are one step closer to our next phase in life, not because I disliked my job.

The title of this post is actually a song by Old Man Leudecke, a folk singer/songwriter that we were privileged to go see a couple of weeks ago in Winnipeg. We were really there to see Del Barber, one of our most listened to musical artists, but he had been on tour with Old Man for the past few weeks, so obviously we were going to stay to see him as well! And we loved him. He's a Nova Scotian, and came complete with that Eastern Canadian warmth and sense of humour that is typical of those folks - he had some great things to say AND played some superb banjo. Anyways, for his encore, the crowd shouted at him to play a song called, "I Quit My Job." Here are some of the lyrics:

Don't fuss, don't fight it no
Take that wrong and right it ho
Can always live on rice and potatoes
Take your heart's candle and relight it

I quit my job
I'm free today

Should be proud of where I am
All my friends work their dreams with their hands
And truly this is the promised land

Don't kill yourself about making it
Just be taking it easy but be taking it
There's enough out there who are faking it

Don't let them take, the joy that you make
On your own

One thing I firmly believe in is that there is a time for everything. A time to stay put, maybe for financial reasons, perhaps there is a relationship that needs to be built,  or there is a lesson to be learned. But also a time to step out in faith, start something new. This is where we are at. This year is not a time where our jobs make our decisions for us. We certainly aren't moving because of job security! We aren't moving because we somehow think the grass is greener on the coast (although...it literally is...). We grew tired of the negative comments such as, "Oh you know so-and-so's brother's friend's cousin couldn't find a teaching job out there for 6 years," and so on - but this kinda stuff doesn't really sway us. We are going ahead in faith that God will go with us, and continue guiding us as He has never failed to do. Jobs aren't likely just going to drop in our laps. Maybe they will look different than we expected, or even be in a different field than we originally thought. We have no idea what life will look like out there, and for some reason it's a satisfying thought!

So I have quit my job, and will now see it through until July 2nd at 8:00am. Maybe though, just maybe for the sake of the doctors and nurses on 5 North, Mr. Call Bell Speaker will have a little chat with Mr. Hammer. Just a thought.