end of an era

"Alright, I know when I see something good." She said. Then she yelled "Keith!"
A second later his head popped in the door. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Let's offer her the job"

And thus my career with the mighty bird began. Hired as an inventory assistant reporting to two separate managers who refused to speak to each other. I was partially hired for my people and customer service skills, after all.

Now, almost six years and a handful of promotions later I am poised to leave. Tomorrow is my last day. My office is packed and shipped, my work almost all tied up. A few loose ends and a few goodbyes and that is it.

Of course once I'm gone it may feel strange to me for a bit. After all I have been with this company as long as I have been in NYC.

Key is this isn't the only job I have had here in manhatty. One really convenient thing about having worked at two jobs at the same time for three years was my ability to maintain my identity outside of this one job. Not solely identifying myself by one workplace. Being successful at a major publishing company is one thing, but waiting tables for a handful of uber celebrities is another.

To have perspective you have to be able to view a place from many vantage points. You can't see where in the forest you are if you can't see the broader landscape. Or like in movies when they triangulate satellites to find a cell phone location.

Oh crap, did I just ruin a good analogy with a sci fi reference? Sorry folks.

Anyhoo, I am about to give myself the gift of more insight, of another vantage point. As hard as I try I can't feel sad, I just feel excited.

We'll see if tomorrow at my work goodbye toast or subsequent bar night I get hit with any sense of loss or nostalgia. It could happen. But I doubt it. If there is anything I have learned in my many adventures and misadventures is that although every job brings new friends it does not mean I lose many of the old ones. The people who are meant to be in my life will continue to do so. And I know for a fact those very people are the best damn ones in the world. The new job just adds a few more to the group.

What was that song I learned back in girl scouts? (Oh so so sooooo many years ago...)

make new friends
but keep the old
one is silver
but the other is gold

Okay, maybe not so poignant. But better than Auld Lang Syne for gods sake. Let's just stick with the triangulation thing.