I just wanted to stop by and say hi, everyone. In a couple of days I will work my last day in my retail management job for a certain blue electronics chain.
I'm gonna leave details scarce, but I'll paint a picture here so that you can get an idea of what's happening. Consider this my attempt at impressionism, and my canvas and paints are quitting this job.
What can I say about this job? Man, I love the people I lead. By and large, they're a good group of people. Pretty diverse, pretty unique. Some personalities clash, some opinions differ, but on the whole these people are an impressive group. They do a really tough job, and most of the time they have fun doing it.
We recently hired on a couple of new supervisors, so that my role is (for now) fully staffed the way corporate says we are supposed to be with leaders. They both have really unique things to bring to the role. I wish them all the best.
The guy who was working with me in my role but got the promotion we both went for is a good dude. I hope he figures out that his job is to manage and not to be a highly paid salesperson. The team he has are capable of greatness. They need coaching and support, not him doing their job for them.
I've developed a couple of relationships that I would consider to be close friends, with some people that you might be surprised are my friends. I know I am surprised at some of them.
But hey, if everything was peach cobbler, I probably wouldn't be leaving, would I?
You know what I'm not going to miss? Being a Google search that people can yell at. No, I don't have that particular laptop charger in stock. Why not? Because if I stocked laptop chargers for every laptop that ever existed, I'd have no room to sell anything but laptop chargers.
(It's gonna be hard, leaving my team behind with no one to shield them. More than one person has asked me to stay for this reason alone. When I am in the building, they know they don't have to worry about being abused by customers.)
Another thing I won't miss? My general manager. This guy has managed to perfect being a micromanager and totally disconnected at the same time. It's really impressive how long he can sit in the office while playing Clash Royale while the store struggles with being properly staffed. We don't need you putting away merchandise, man. We need you leading.
Well, they need you. I don't any more.
It was funny. My fiancée asked me if I thought you would try to get me to stay. She asked me what it would take to get me to stay. I came up with my list, but I knew I'd never get the chance to tell you what they were. And you didn't disappoint. Not only did you not attempt to get me to stay, you didn't even bring up the fact that I was leaving once I confirmed to you I had submitted my notice. You left for a vacation today, so you won't even be in the state for my last two days at your store.
But hey, it was clear that you didn't want me around. You didn't give me the promotion I wanted and deserved (that's not a knock on the guy who got it, he was as qualified as I was). And now, in my last week here, I find out that the two brand new hires to the management team were hired on making more money than I am making after being a leader in your store for almost two years. (Good for them. Both those young ladies deserve to be making more than they are. But so do I.)
So I'm gonna put in my last two days. I'm gonna cash out the last of my PTO. I'm gonna stock up on stuff with my employee discount. And I'm gonna be on my way.
And then what, you may ask, dear reader?
Then I'm gonna go home and do the thing that makes me the happiest. I'm gonna be a dad. My kiddo just started kindergarten. Now I get to take him to school every morning. Pick him up every afternoon. I get to take him to swim lessons. I'll be able to coach his tee ball team. I'll attend his school plays and his band concerts and whatever else he can get into. And I'll be able to do this because I won't be crushing my spirit against the capitalist grindstone anymore. I'll take care of the house and make the meals and I'll be the best goddamn dad I can be.
And here we need to give a special thanks to my partner. She is so supportive. She loves her career, and it produces enough income for us to live comfortably together. I can't wait to marry her (I also won't, we are setting the wheels in motion to make that official by the end of the month, with the big party to follow next October). I couldn't do any of this without her. Thanks, love.
That's it for me. I just wanted to come by here and celebrate one of the biggest victories of my life. I hope y'all get to the end of your rainbows, too. And if some of the folks who work for and with me see this and recognize the details, I'll leave you with this:
It's going to get worse before it gets better. You are about to suffer through yet another miserable retail holiday season with a boatload of turnover. Be supportive of your new teammates. And like I've been telling you for the last couple of weeks, your choices to make it better for yourself are to leave or to organize. If you know who is writing this, you know how to get ahold of me, and you know I'll do everything I can to help. You guys are awesome. I'm so proud of the work we have done together. The last task I am assigning to you is to ORGANIZE. You are stronger together. He can't run the store alone. You can have what you want and what you deserve if you work together to get it.
Now go get it. I got mine.