An Open Letter to Our Parents, Who We Know Mean Well

An Open Letter to Our Parents, Who We Know Mean Well by blue biciletta (I linked to the post this image was from, since I think its such a great fit here) Oh my dear readers, get both the tissues and the Power to the People fists ready. Im so thankful to have gotten permission to post the homework assignments of one of my clients right here, changing the name to protect the innocent but leaving everything else in tact. Sarahs thisclose to breaking in her current job, and while she knows she can make her dreams of leaving and traveling the world a reality sooner rather than later, she was still faced with the Vampires that reminded her, You should be thankful for your job in this economy! and Thats not very responsible of you, young lady! and Your parents would be so disappointed! So when I learned that shed have 5 hours in the car to talk to her parents about why it was important for her sanity/health/goals to give her notice, I asked her to write out an elevator pitch of sorts so shed be more comfortable and confident with what she wanted to articulate to them. I was blown away when she sent me this instead: Dear Mom and Dad, It should come as no surprise to you that I hate my job, given my propensity to jump down everyones throat for interrupting me while I watch the Real Housewives of New York and my overwhelming desire to sleep all the time. If Im to be honest with you and myself, I can say with conviction that this job has never worked for me and working in this environment is crushing my soul. I worry that by staying any longer, Ill become even more of the zombie I have lately become and I dont want to be a zombie and you didnt raise me to be a zombie. I am absolutely not sure what my next steps are and how I will fill the resulting holes on my resume, but I am certain that I need to quit my job now, without a plan because I cant stand it. 1. I cant stand getting up at 5:30 in the morning to work 9 hours. 2. I cant stand my commute that can take me anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes depending on whether or not the sun is shining and how fast the wind is blowing. 3. I cant stand my boss, and while I recognize that I will not always get along with everyone I encounter, and sometimes the best teacher is a terrible boss, I dont want to work with Laura or for Laura anymore. Ive learned what makes a terrible manager. Laura is a micromanager and she treats me like Im incompetent, and I feel like Im going to be pushed to the point of explosion-which is not a situation I want to be in. 4. I cant stand getting dressed in the morning. I take great pains in looking stylish and put-together and it goes unnoticed in an office full of sloppy dressers and cube-dwelling ogres. 5. I cant stand the people that I work with-if Im supposed to spend 40 hours a week for the next 30-40 years, I want to work with people who dont stare at their feet when I say hello and who arent content to eat lunch by themselves. Working in this place has caused me to compromise my values and at 23, I think Im too young to do this. 1. This office is causing me to compromise my integrity. It puts values on the walls that no one lives by-the people here are irresponsible with resources we waste paper and supplies to the point that smoke comes out of my ears. And no one has a problem with this because thats just the way things are done around the office 2. I cant be creative in the Financial Group. In my grey little cube, Im pretty sure my brain is turning to mush. I try to be creative by proposing new solutions to regular office problems-all of which are shot down and I try to insert a little color into my colorless cube by folding ninja stars out of used post-it notes. The end result is pretty, but Im better than ninja stars in a gray cube. 3. I dont create measurable value in the office. As far as Im concerned the people in my office are middle men and paper-pushers, the end result of their work is not measurable or important to anyone outside the office (if youre asking how I know this, its because peoples eyes glaze over when I tell them what I do. Hell, my eyes glaze over) 4. Im so bored in my cube that Im exhausted all the time. Im too tired to want to learn anything else. I dont see this as a job where I develop and more than that, I dont want to develop skills in government bureaucratic bullshit. I dont believe this is a place where I can learn to be a better person. 5. I get no pleasure out of coming to the office-I dont like the people, I dont like the tasks. I want to get up in the morning and be excited to go to work. I think I deserve to be excited and I think its possible to find that before Im saddled with things like a mortgage or kids or a pet or a husband. I hesitated to tell you that I wanted to quit. Ive wrestled with the idea that I need to have a new job lined up or a plan because I dont like quitting and yall seem so proud to tell people I graduated college and found myself a good job and I dont want to disappoint you by being your unemployed daughter (again). On the other hand, I dont want to disappoint myself either and I am dragging myself out of bed and forcing myself to go to a place that I hate for a paycheck thats good, but not good enough to make me sacrifice my own personal happiness. When I graduated and started looking for a job, I really wanted to travel. I didnt because I worried that someone might call to offer me a job and I wouldnt be able to accept since I was out of town. For 9 months, I went on thinking this, and now Ive spent over a year in a job regretting that I didnt travel. I want to get on a plane and visit with people that I know all over the world and not sit at a desk banking 4 hours of leave every 2 weeks in order to do this. Ive paid off my student loans and my credit cards and Ive saved some money. Id like your blessing to quit my job and hit the skids. I want to figure out what it is that Im really supposed to be doing, and I can promise you its not sitting in a cube. I can promise you I wont survive if I have to wait to retire to enjoy my life. I am certain that quitting my job will give me the kick that I need that will make the change that I need to lead a life that will make me happy to get up in the morning. *******************************************************************************************************