The Place Where I Used To Work

[Today's my last day at The Place Where I Work.]

[In mid-October 2005, I was unemployed, broke, single, living alone, and pretty depressed. I didn't think much of my prospects almost three months after my position at the Friendly Neighborhood Cabaret was eliminated; almost a year after learning I'd failed - badly - the July 2004 California Bar exam; and almost two years after I'd ended my seven-year relationship. My sister was about to give birth, it's true, and my family and I were looking forward to that. That wasn't and isn't about me, really, though, so there didn't seem to be much for me to look forward to.]

[(Oh...and I was annoyed to find out too late about an event that ended up not taking place anyway. I couldn't catch a break!)]

[Some people would take this as a clean slate, a golden opportunity to start fresh with little to encumber them. I don't work that way: I embody the principle that bodies in motion tend to stay in motion, while bodies at rest...well, I was at rest. Flatline.]

[Then...October 17, 2005, I was spending the night at Dolores House after what I'm guessing was yet another night out getting more or less drunk, when I was awakened at about 5AM by my cell phone. It was my mom exclaiming "she's here!!!!" In just a couple more hours, I was holding the Niece Audrey in my arms for the first time.]

[After my parents, my brother-in-law, and I had all posed for many pictures with her and my very tired sister, Mom, Dad, and I departed for a diner on nearby Mission Street for breakfast. As we waited for our food, my phone rang again. It was Charlotte, saying that the job she'd hinted at a few days before had indeed become available, and would I like to come in the next to meet Boss-Man?]

[The next day, I rode the 19-Polk from the Tenderloin to a part of Potrero Hill I'd never visited before. I entered a small, unfinished-looking storefront with very high ceilings hung with a couple of impressive, expensive-looking, contemporary light fixtures. Similarly exotic looking fixtures lined the walls and hung as pendants above a small loft space at the back, where Charlotte sat and gestured me in.]

[And a little over two years later, here I am, at least for a couple more hours. I can't say I ever intended to get into the wholesale lighting game, or once in, to stay in for this long. However, it's been good for me to have a steady job, to get better at it, and to learn more about how a small business is run than I ever thought possible. I've trained newbies, been trained, and dealt with saints and slimeballs all over the country. In my professional experience (and let's not forget that I've worked in both public legal services and cabaret), nothing's worse than a commercial real estate broker; however, electrical distributors come in a close, close second.]

[Life changed that week in October, and for the better, but it's been time to take the next step for a while. My friend and occasional deus ex machina Violet has taken me on at her new, truly exciting internet startup. My new job will cover much the same territory as here (the chaos control that I'm told is de rigeur for a startup; customer care (no phones this time!), and - I hope - some creative input as time goes on), but in service to a reason for being that has also been mine since I was very, very small. Due to go live any day now, ladies and gentleman, I give you Redroom.com...Where The Writers Are. I hope you'll join us there.]

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