I had a rather funny experience yesterday. One of the fashion companies I used to work for held their holiday party at my restaurant, and I was bartending. I was serving people who used to be my corporate colleagues. And while this irony made me nervous and inevitably a bit over-dressed to make sure I didn’t appear as some washed up, brainless bartender, the more I observed the scene the prouder I was of the change I intentionally made in my life.
The super preppy company, which is kind of like if Brooks Brothers and Lily Pulitzer had a baby, gives employees a $300 monthly store credit, one that I had so much trouble spending, I usually gave half of the stuff to my mom or used the fabric to sew something more fitting for a 20-something Brooklynite. This was unacceptable, of course, at the holiday party. I was pulled into the sample room and forced into a frock that made me look like an over-botoxed Upper West Side socialite who was about to give a thank you speech at a gala. Instead, I was dragged to the on-site photo studio (Wowww! They really overdid themselves with the decor this year!) to have 2 glasses of wine and some finger foods and leave with a framed picture of the company founders. As much as I tried to fit in at that company, I never did. It also didn’t help that on my birthday, a crazy ex-boyfriend sent a midget stripper to my office at 11am (but that’s a whole other story).
As I looked around the dining room yesterday, proudly perched on the other side of my half-moon marble bar and wearing my own clothes, I was so happy to be exactly where I was. One of the former co-workers that I particularly despised smirked when he recognized me. “You look better. Is it because you don’t have to wake up early anymore?” “No, Jack. I’m a writer. I wake up whenever it’s time for me to work on my own craft,” I told him.
Later, an old friend asked me. “How did you do it? I want to leave the corporate world so bad. It’s killing me.” I leaned in close and told her the secret. “You just go.”
Thank you, whoever is reading this, for being this reason for me to admit I was in the wrong place, and doing the wrong thing, at just the right time. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being the main reason for this lifestyle change, and into this life that fits me just right.
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