After seven long and sometimes tedious years with the same company, I’m finally moving on. I mentioned in another thread that I’m relocating from the city to the bush and will, from Wednesdaythis week, be working full-time from home for a new company rather than being cooped up in an office with a bunch of freaks. I’m very excited, but somewhat sad at the same time.
The company I work for presently is run by a most honourable man who has the most exemplary set of ethics I have ever encountered in a CEO. Some may put that down to his religious beliefs, but my experience is that he is just a really good bloke who always endeavours to do the right thing, even if it’s to his own disadvantage. Of course he can be a right prat at times too, and sometimes my witticisms go sailing right over his yarmulked head, 
but mostly those things pale before his inherent goodness and his generosity. I will certainly miss him.
There’s a couple of snooty-upstart-admin staff who think their status as Data Entry Drones puts them many, MANY rungs above us lowly telefundraisers, and I won’t miss them one iota. In fact, I’m tempted to give them a goodly dressing down on the day I depart…
Unfortunately, they’re not terribly smart so will probably miss the dripping sarcasm disguised as saccharined-sad-goodbyes. Ah, well, the people who WILL get the message are the people that matter…my fellow telefundraisers.
And for all of you bastards…I’m going to miss you terribly. Over the years I’ve seen people come and go (mostly go) but many of them come back too. I’ve been there for the first budding relationships and the marriages and the babies. I’ve been there for the divorces and the subsequent legal actions and the deaths of a couple of my favourite people. I’ve shared in the joys of getting their degrees and PhD’s and getting a ‘real’ job, and I’ve helped those in the throes of despair with mental illness and/or addiction issues. I’ve loaned money to those who were really down on their luck, and borrowed a couple of bucks myself the day before payday.
I’ve seen the justified sackings, and am puzzled why SOME people are still employed there. I’ve been curious as to why some folk just disappear…only to read in the newspaper weeks later that they’ve been arrested on theft and/or murder charges :eek:. We’ve got students and menopausal ladies, grumpy old men and gorgeous young bimbos. We’ve got gays and lesbians and a six-foot-four Islander transexual with the longest fingernails (and the best wigs) I have ever seen on any woman.
We’ve got hippies and we’ve got LOTS of mad old Jewish women…and they are a unique breed quite unto themselves. Pious as all get-up, but tell them a dirty joke and they cack themselves stupid. AND, you know it will be spread all over the internet by the following morning (except Fri night/Saturday of course) Orthodox (and some not quite so observant) Jewish women love risque jokes! But all Jewish women make the BEST cakes evah…and they love to share. I’ll miss them most of all I think.
Being here so long, I’ve even become familiar with many of the names on our database of donors: most are really terrific and courteous folk who, even if they can’t or won’t donate for whatever reason are decent enough to be polite in the process. There’s a few though, who, whenever I see their name pop up on the screen, I crap myself knowing that I’m in for a good 20 or 30 minute diatribe about the virtues of a fruitarian diet, or the powers of prayer to cure Cerebral Palsy and Leukemia. Gotta love the punters, they’re getting more and more creative with their reasons every day.
I’ve only got two days left, and I’m a bit scared about the future. This damned office has been my LIFE for the last however many years, and I dread to think about what the hell I will be able to bitch about in the months and years to come. It has given me the utter shits working there, the boredom and the ‘groundhog day’ experience that I suffer every single morning as I walk up the stairs…but, by God, I’ll miss all of it.
Thanks for listening.
kam
