Finally Free

That's Quest Diagnostics, my friend ...

So, I finally quit my job last Tuesday. I have bee waiting for this day for a very very long time. To finally be free of that 8 to 5 job, so I can graduate. To finally be free of stupid patients that try to ruin my day. To finally be free of co-workers that have nothing better to do than gossip. To finally be free of bosses that think their underlings can't be trusted. To finally be free to just be free, before I have to start real life.

Finally free.

But, not that I'm finally free, all I want is to go back to work.
I forgot that I get amazingly bored if I am by myself and have nothing to do. I get bored, lonely, and overall lazy. I did much better in school when I had a job than when I didn't, which scares me because I have to graduate.

I forgot that along with the bad and stupid patients, some (even most) were great. Sometimes, patients had the ability to make a so-so day become great, just with that short 5 minute encounter. A short and quick conversation can change your day.

I forgot that as much as we phlebotomists gossiped, I really really enjoyed it. Not because the gossip was particularly good or anything like that, but it was harmless and dramaless. It was completely almost always about work stuff, which honestly, let me focus on meaningless drama than the real stuff that I have to deal with in other places. I already miss the people that I work with. I've talked to a couple since I left, but that is probably going to slow down soon. And its upsetting, because I really liked my co-workers. They are a great group of people, and I really am going to try to keep in contact.

I forgot that my bosses weren't all that bad. They actually listened to me when I needed them to. They actually let me vent and be angry when I needed to. And they put me in my place when I needed to (not all that often ... I knew I was low on the totem pole!). They really did (do) try to do the they can with what they are given. I realized that most people are in the job they do trying to do the best they can do. That knowledge makes you feel a little better when supervisors are shoving policies down your throat that you don't like. They probably don't like them either.

And lastly, I forgot that, although my job in phlebotomy wasn't going to be my career, I had kinda entered the real world when I started at 16. I worked at a real hospital with real nurses, Med Techs, therapists, unit secretaries, and doctors. I worked at Quest Diagnostics, a real international company that I might have been able to make a real career if I wanted to. I worked with people that were in their career. And liked it.

So maybe I had already entered the real world and not even known it.

And so goes the life ...