“I’m Quitting”

And just like that, I was set free.

Nearly three months of dreading each Wednesday and Saturday are coming to an end.

Before I told my boss this, I had no idea at all about his reaction. I even had a kind of flowchart for how the conversation would go, pieced together in the days leading to this night. My boss is kind of a hot head, so I figured he could either explode and say something like, “What the fuck do you mean ‘you’re quiting’?!”, but on the other hand I’m sure he’s had countless other dishwashing guys quit on him over the years, some probably working less time than I have and doing a worse job than me as well, so he may expect it. I had about ten minutes of straight me-to-him dialogue prepared, but it only lasted about ten or so seconds.

“I’m quitting. Things are getting complicated at home*, and I don’t know if…”

“How long can you stay on?”

“I can work for two weeks, and that’ll be it.”

And thus ends one saga in the My Life as a TV Series Show. Why is it always October? In October 2006, I fell flat on my face as I struggled with Sophomore year as well as a… “bad” relationship. And both of these times I’ve had to confront people and just break things off in order for me to grow. I pray I don’t encounter this problem again next year or the year after.

The money was nice, don’t get me wrong. It’s always nice to be able to buy things you like. My Ouran DVDs, Guitar Hero 4 Band Bundle, and some other games were all bought with money earned from this. And this job motivated me into the direction of the Epic; by the time I’ve finished working, I should have enough for that (or so I hope.)

Even though I’m immensely relieved that this is ending, I still feel guilty- and in fact, that’s the reason I didn’t quit sooner: guilt. If I had quit a few weeks after they had hired me, I would’ve felt guilty that they spent time and money training me, and it would be wasted. I actually do still feel guilty leaving my coworkers behind.

But this is good. I think the job was detrimental to my health- sometimes it feels like I could pull a hernia at any moment (although that feeling’s been pervasive for about two years, it’s much more frequent now), not to mention the miscellaneous injuries like burnings and bruises.

The dread is over.

Wait, no it’s not. While I haven’t received my report card yet, the marking period is over and I know my grades in some classes.

Algebra 2: B (~74%) It’s graded weird.
Honors Greek 4: A (95+%)
Physics: C- (71%)
AP Comp Sci AB: N/A
Contempory Bestsellers (English): F (~50%)

That last one. That last fucking one. She didn’t add my last essay to the fucking quarter- I have no doubt that would have saved me.

This is going to screw me up. Damnit. I know my AP Computer Science grade will really push my GPA higher, but damn. Why is there always one damn class that just screws up the whole report card? Why?
-Andrew

* Life is actually more complicated, know that I’ve thought about it. A few months ago, my dad lost his job and my sister and her fiance moved in with us. Then almost two months ago, my sister had her baby (my niece) and my dad began college. Mom has been in workaholic mode, and my grandfather and younger sister still live with us. It’s truthfully not that hectic, but I figured if pushed, when I explained all this to him he’d probably think it was really crazy. I was also planning to pile on “It’s winter, so I don’t know if I can keep coming to work consistently…” on top of it. But it’s better this way; quick, painless. The next two weeks should be hard, but afterwards, I may taste freedom.

PS- I feel compelled to comment on the recent presidential election results even though I didn’t follow it at all. Barack Obama will be our new president, the 44th and the first black one. Honestly, on most issues him and McCain weren’t really as different as I thought and I don’t oppose him on much. I hope he’ll fix the credit crisis, and while I’ve always held that we shouldn’t abandon the Middle East, it’s his call, ultimately. I do oppose his stance that the wealthy should share their wealth with the poor- no, that the government should forcefully take their money and distribute it so that everyone is somewhat “equal”, if only because this is extremely communistic/socialistic and actually goes against my biblical views.

Everyone wanting “hope” and “change” got what they wanted- the direction America takes these next four years is entirely on their heads now.