I am about to leave Home Depot. This week I received a job offer from a local printer and today I decided to make the change. You would think I would feel joyful, but so far I just feel blank. The new job pays less and offers fewer benefits, but the hours are regular: weekdays from 8:30 to 5:30 with weekends off. What a concept. (Tomorrow at Home Depot I am scheduled for 1:00 to 10:00 and the day after for 8:00 to 5:00.) Also, it is much closer to home, so I won't lose so much time traveling, or spend so much on gas. I will be doing graphic design and general dogsbody type work. It will be a chance to sharpen my skills on the big graphics programs like In Design and Photoshop.
This afternoon as I was making this decision I got such a horrible headache behind my eyes. I rarely get this particular sort of headache, so I wondered if it had to do with the job. I focussed on it for a while, and like the answer in the eight ball, up from the depths rolled the thought that my eyes didn't want to work in the print shop because it is ugly. It is in what used to be a bank, built in the sixties, which was an eyesore to start with. Now it is worn and shabby on the outside, and absolutely crammed with presses and paper on the inside. Everything is grubby. I have been in several print shops, and the smaller ones were all like this, so I guess it is just the result of working with lots of paper and ink. When I realized what the problem was, I decided I could live with it, but that I have to make a point of looking at or making something beautiful as often as I can. With that resolution, my headache went away.
Tomorrow I will give my notice at Home Depot. I won't miss the soulless corporation or the horrible hours, but I will miss my friends.
Comments