Doin' What I'm Doin'.

I had lunch with some folks at the old job this week. I still have a lot of friends there, and it's nice to get out of the house every once in a while.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having lunch with the parrots most days, but sometimes, I need to be with entities that not only reply to conversation, but are actually aware of what they're saying.

Silly though it may be..

It almost doesn't matter who I see. Eventually, the questions will be asked:

"Do you miss it?"

My answer almost never varies:

"I miss you, not it."

I realized this week that it was actually true.

Those of you who are not familiar, Alcoholics Anonymous frequently uses a piece of advice that is genius:

"Fake it til you make it."

In other words, act like you've got it together until you do.

And that, my darling readers, is what I've been doing for the last seven(!!) months.

I go through every day pretending that I don't miss getting up and being a big deal. And let me assure you, I was. I mean, I wasn't the president, nor was I famous or even infamous. But in the world in which I lived, I was a big deal. Not only at my facility, but my name was familiar and respected to people in many, many other facilities, too. A lot of which you would recognize if I could put them down here. I could, you know. I could tell you who I am and where I was and why I was a big deal, but again, I won't.

Also, if you do know me, if I directed you here personally, or if you've found this and figured out who I am, I ask you to keep it to yourself. Please.
1. Because if you know me, you know how important that place was to me.
2. Because I asked nicely.
3. Because I like to think that you're all nice people.
and
4. Because I really don't want to deal with the PR people there. Although, now that I think about it, the PR director there is/was one of the people talking the most shit about me when I left, so I'd like to see the ground they think they want to stand on by calling me out about my measley little blog.

Anyway, some of the highlights of not working:
SO MUCH LESS DRAMA!
Holy crap, I had no idea how dramatic my life was. The fact is, it wasn't. Not even a little bit! But, because of the people I was working with, it really seemed like it was.

When I have problems, there's no one to blame but me. That may seem like it's not a perk, but believe me when I say it is. For instance, I'm not waiting on someone else to finish something that I'm desperate for so that *I* can get something done. If shit doesn't get done, it's my own damn fault.

I'm not required to fix other people's problems. OldMan and LovelyGirl do not require me to go in and clean up their mistakes. They do, however, require me to clean their laundry.
Not nearly as serious.

NO. MEETINGS.
Need I say more?

I'm not required to be nice to people anymore. Now, if I'm being nice, it's because I want to. Not because I'll lose my job if I'm not.

These days, I answer to OldMan and the animals. I answer to myself.
I'm still a big deal, it's just a much smaller world now.

And I'm happy with it.

Enjoy your Friday, everyone!