ACCOUNTANT BY DAY

Well, my last day with the payday loan company was an emotional wringer. I had a sort of wager with my boss, in which he was betting I wouldn’t be able to last till noon before turning on the waterworks, but I lasted until 1:30. The outpouring of support and affection just astonished me, though. I had customers who started to bawl when they realized I wasn’t coming back again, and one even demanded that I come out into the lobby for a hug before she could leave. And tons of people from corporate and other stores were calling to give me well wishes and say goodbye. Even my boss’s girlfriend called to say she was proud of me and how much she knew my boss would miss me. I got a handful of little cards and presents from my customers, and one of my coworkers bought a huge sheet cake with my name written on it on it, such a big cake that when I brought the leftovers home it took up the whole top shelf in our refrigerator. The regional manager came to the store to have lunch with us and picked up the tab for all of us, and passed on word from the CFO and CEO, the regional VP, and the accounting and IT departments, that everybody at corporate is really sorry to see me go. I didn’t expect all this, and I guess I was really surprised to see how just well-liked and popular I was without ever realizing it. Pleasantly surprised, I mean, but I was sad to leave.

I guess what makes me sad is a lot of little things. Like, I’ll never get to lean in the bathroom doorway anymore and shoot the shit with my boss while he props his feet up on my desk. And I’ll never get to spend another rare slow afternoon gleefully shirking any extra duties and playing cards and eating Oreos with my coworkers. And I won’t get to see my favorite customers anymore. But on the upside, I won’t be responsible for any employees in my new job, I’ll be making a lot more money, and I doubt I’ll have to field the same type of stupid complaints all the time that I did there. I doubt anybody at my new job will get up in arms if I use a free pizza coupon without them (true story, although I don’t feel like going into that whole stupid and drawn out saga).

All the same, despite the stress, annoyances, worries, and the recent friction with my pizza-coveting assistant manager, I’m really going to miss it there. My boss and my employees all hugged me when it was time to leave, and I cried and cried. In a way I really wished I could stay.