Homecoming

As it is homecoming season for all the high school-ers in the area, I thought I'd crash their party. Going "home" to an old job to make it the new job is certainly a homecoming of sorts, minus the formal dress and expensive dinner. (You know, it would be great fun for me to post some old homecoming photos. Or, maybe not. I don't think my homecoming date would find that amusing. Heck, he won't even be my Book de la Face friend. Ouch.)

This smiling goat really has nothing to do with homecoming activities except that this particular photo of this particular goat was taken at my previous-now curret job. I wanted visual representation of the old-new job and thought this perfect. Some people ask why; I say baaaaaaah!

(Kind of makes me want to say "they got my goat." Baaa-a-a-a-a-ad grrrl!)

For those of you wondering, my first day of work at my old-new job went swimmingly.

"How swimmingly?" you ask.

Here's a concrete example of how swimmingly it went: A client (who hasn't seen me in over two years, mind you) slowly saunters towards me, gives me a hug and asks, "how's your special friend?" Now, I suppose I should have been pissed off that he did not ask how I was doing first (ha ha!), but instead I was so touched that he asked--that someone related to my employment--actually inquired about the wife....

.....remembered the wife, knew about the wife, liked the wife, accepted the wife, probably liked the wife better than me.

I got a tear. After two years of basically the opposite, this was so refreshing, such a surprise, so incredibly soothing to my beat-up soul.

Thank you, baby Jesus for such a welcome back gift.

It was almost as good as getting two bags full of chocolate (illustration here taken again from when my new job was my old job--who leaves a job that affords you the opportunity to buy two bags full of chocolate?).

I went out of my way to remain VERY respectful as I left my now-previous job, as they did indeed do me right in so many ways, I met a few very nice, genuine people and they did afford me an arena to learn about seven billion life lessons. Even though I remained respectful and professional (well, besides wearing jeans on the last day, which was only semi-professional), it made me snort when I received an email from Spotted Owl the night before my last day of employment at my now-previous job.....encouraging me to "pull a Linda Blair," complete with head spinning & pea soup spewing; to speak in tongues, and, to open a can of "inner lesbian" to "tap dance all over their closed minded little hearts." I love you, Spotted Owl!

In fact, the day turned out to be basically "Old Gay Day," with everyone here and there asking about the wife and the dogs (not always in that order--don't want her to get a big head).
There were points in the day that I literally thought, "Are you kidding me?"

The whole day was surreal....kinda like I never left, kinda like I hadn't been there in 25 years, kinda like I didn't remember anyTHING but remembered everyBODY. I was unexpectedly nervous--more like the excited nervous you feel when you go back to school after summer vacation, not the scared nervous you get before opening your quarterly retirement fund report.

And so, I came home with a lighter heart. Free therapy--one day traded for two years. They undid two years of nonsense in one single day. Good odds, if you ask me. Oh, it will most certainly not be perfect and I still have a long, long way to go and I will still be a pompous ass now and again (hard to teach an old pompous dog new tricks), but I believe those old-job life lessons will help keep me focused on what is important, on what I have, on how I would like to be....the Universe slapped some humility, gratitude and wisdom into me and for that I can never thank my old job enough.

Now, about those high school homecoming photos.......
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