I quit my job today!
 

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Congratulations!? I'm sorry?! Go have a beer?!!!!!!

LOL is this a good thing, I hope?

Thank you! Don't be sorry! I got drunk last weekend, so I'm cool on a beer right now.

Since I just said the story in an email, I'll just copy and paste:

Earlier this week, I requested 2.5 days off next week because I was invited to be the keynote speaker for National Coming Out Week observances at Ohio University. I was set to address the NPHC next Tuesday night and the campus as a whole on Wednesday night.

Admittedly, I should have submitted the leave request earlier. But I didn't.

So my boss denied the request. He said we were "short staffed" -- which is insane because the one chick who is getting married and taking two weeks off has NOTHING to do with my 2.5 days. [Note: I am a Site Director for an after school program. The absence of a Site Director in one place does not have anything to do with my school on the other side of the city.]

I asked him to reconsider because speaking at these events was VERY important to me, and I would hate to be forced to choose between the job and the opportunity. He asked me then if I was not given the days off, was I saying that I would resign? I said yes.

This morning, he said that the best he could do was let me have ONE DAY off.

ONE DAY, yet I will be speaking for two nights. Not to mention the LGBT office at OU has arranged all of these lunches and dinners with faculty members, directors, and student groups -- treating me like a celebrity!

So I told him that I found his offer to be unacceptable and that I was resigning, effective today.

He stuttered a bit and finally said to me "So we don't even get two week's notice?"

I said no.

But thank you for the opportunity to work here.

So that's that. I'm going to Ohio next week to speak about being black and queer!

And I love it!

The next few months will be a struggle, but at least I will be able to sleep at night knowing that I stood by my principles, stood my ground when they played hardball, had the unconditional support of my family and friends.... it just feels so fucking good to do the right thing, Frat! [Note: I was addressing a Brother, lol]



So yeah, that's that. It was a great six months. I did a lot to improve my site's reputation at my school. I revived the volunteer corps from Georgetown. I "got those kids straight" as some of the teachers at my site said. I basically kicked ass for six months and my bosses chose to throw it away over 2.5 days of leave -- THAT I HAD TO USE. Not like I asked them for extra, lol.

This change allows me to focus on the final weeks of getting my second novel out and move full speed ahead with doing more things like my lectures at Ohio next week.

Aw, sorry about the job.

But congratulations on the two big speaking engagements!!

At many levels and many reasons, GOOD FOR YOU!!:)
I did something very close a few months ago and I had not problem sleeping the next day ( something I was not able to do prior to quiting)
Break a leg in Ohio..;)

Congrats on the speaking engagement!!!!!! If the old job didn't see you as an asset and worth the time off then their loss......keep God 1st and the rest will fall into place....(I wanna read the first novel PM me)

The Ohio gig sounds like quite an opportunity - congratulations!

I know you must have some mixed feelings about leaving your job. I recently retired and had many second thoughts before I actually turned in my papers. Now I know I did the right thing - I have a feeling that you know you did, too.

I quit my job recently too. The supervisor was nasty, I wasn't getting anywhere, and we both decided that it wasn't the place for me. I'm now working for a publicist. It's contract, but I'm building up a portfolio and maybe I can get somewhere with it :)

Hey,

Now I'm really sorry I won't be in Columbus/Athens this week.

Best of luck to you -- and give Athens and the Univerisity my best. I hope you find Ohio University receptive to you and your message.

I still know a few people there and if there's anything I can do, please let me know.

My very best regards...

Sensuret,
Good for you, and I hope that you have good opportunities coming your way after your speaking engagements. :D

Good for you senusret.

I did a similar thing on the job front recently and landed on my feet with no problem and hopefully you have similar luck after your speaking engagements:)

Thank you.......I really appreciate it, guys.

I am really excited about the trip and even more excited to be able to continue writing and publishing (it suffered for the past six months).

I'll be substitute teaching again, too, so I will still get to work with kids while continuing to lay foundations for my career as a writer/speaker/etc.

I will definitely keep GC posted, as I always do. :D

Peace of mind is priceless plus this speaking engagement is crucial to your career as a writer and speaker, so never fear the decision that will benefit you in the long run.

Best wishes at OU in a few weeks.:cool:

Good for you, Brother. It sounds like an amazing opportunity.

You did the right thing!!! You have to stand up for yourself and your principles. Congrats on the speaking engagements. Those are chances you can NOT pass up!!! Best of luck! :D

good for you!! hope the speaking engagements go well and that you make many contacts that can further your career.

Good for you. Everything happens for a reason. :)

Best wishes and good luck from the Aussie GLBTI community, hun. I hope that the speeches and everything after them goes well for you. After you have done them, can you post a copy of the lectures you are giving up on here, as I'd really like to read them and I'm sure that it would help any other member of the forums that might be GLBTI.

Best of luck and *hugs*.

Congratulations! Much success to you with your future endeavors. :)

that's awesome! good for you!

HELLL YEAH HELL YEAH HEEELLLLLLYEAAAHHH!!!

Don't let them grind you down, stand tall!! You were basically doing them a favor by working there anyway.

Congratulations.

You, by your own admission, failed to request time off well enough in advance to attend this event.

Your boss at least gave you something and your response was to decide that it was not good enough and he didn't know what he was doing anyway by not letting you just take off this time on short notice.

And so you quit without 2 weeks notice- and from a damned important job at that.

Some principles my friend. And good luck getting references when you go looking for another job and need them. I still sometimes tap into references from jobs I had many years ago- and I own my own company now! You never know when you might need to cross an old bridge again- and you just burned one big time.

Someone said just above, "You were basically doing them a favor by working there anyway."

I have spent many hours volunteering at Boy's Club in two cities during my college and post-college career. Quite frankly, these places are full of volunteer and employees (working at all the salary such programs can afford)
who think they are "doing the kids a favor by working there anyway."

Anyone with that attitude is best to never bother volunteering in the first place. These kids need people who care and will show up.

People who show up and work for a few weeks or months and then just leave do more harm than good.

Talk yourself all you want into thinking that you made a lasting difference in 6 months when everyone you work with has now seen you just take off for a very pitiful reason.

The lecture series you are embarking on is certainly a noble goal, but if you really cared about it and were a principled man, then why didn't you give 2 weeks notice and then start lecturing- or accept the one day off and then drive all night to manage everything?

Put it another way- if the organizations you are lecturing for were to find out what you just did, do you think they would still want you to represent them with a public speech?

You raise some interesting points.

First I would like to say that I am probably receiving a lot of support in this thread because I've been part of GC for so long. These people remember before I was an Alpha, celebrated my initiation into Alpha with me, remember my struggle to become published, celebrated my novel with me, and have met me when my work as an author brought me to their various towns and cities.

Simply put, I was an author before I was a Site Director. When I was hired, they knew that I was an author and had already traveled to various schools, pride celebrations, book clubs, etc. When asked in my interview how I would balance the two, I said that I would do so fairly and equitably and be flexible -- as I have been for the past six months.

For six months, I've been too tired to write and unable to promote my work or accept speaking engagements unless they were on the weekend. This is the first time I asked for time off during the week.

This is my reality -- there is no need for you to check it.

My job is important -- but my site is so well oiled that it will be fine without me because I have laid out a structure for my employees to follow. They are highly qualified, highly motivated college students who have had intensive training. My abscence does not harm them.

I had not admitted that the leave request wasn't submitted "on time" -- I have admitted that I could have submitted it earlier. My office does not have a policy about what is considered "on time."

You don't seem to understand the nature of the work I am doing. I think another reason for the support of my decision in this thread is because people on GC know how I live my life -- they have seen my own fraternity brothers turn their backs on me because of my sexual orientation. For them, seeing me take a stand such as this to go to a completely different environment and speak about my experiences means something.

It's not about "being in the spotlight" -- it's about making a difference, being an activist. The themes of my novel also directly relate to fraternity and sorority life in many ways. Just ask anyone on GC who has read it. I say "treating me like a celebrity" not because I am star struck or drunk with fame -- far from it. I say it because of the irony of being celebrated for being who you are in a completely different venue than the place that should be treating you that way.

The bottom line is that you really don't know me. You don't know my job. You don't know whether I've made a difference or not.

But I know me. I know my job. And I know that I've made a difference when my coworkers have told me that I empowered them to speak their minds when previously they were silent; when parents tell me that I've created a quality program for their children that didn't previously exist; when my employees thank me for going above and beyond for them; when teachers let me know that they appreciate the structure and discipline I provide.

If you're interested in the job, email me your resume and I'll be sure to put in a good word.

I really wish you hadn't edited your post, because now my response seems disjointed.

I didn't say he was doing the kids a favor, he was doing his boss, etc. a favor by putting up with their crap. Yeah sometimes work is great, and sometimes you run into entire offices full of asshats

Congrats on the speaking engagements and for following your heart, dude. :)

Everyone is giving you congratz, but you basically called yourself a quitter...
You failed to tell us if you had a back up job?
Unless your balling like that. I don't know many people who are, cause U.S. Capitalism is a mother...
Rather then congratulate you my NPHC brother, I pray for you. Pray that you don't face finacial hardship and find something that you like.

In regards to the last few posts before this one:

EE-BO, thats a bit uncalled for what you just said. None of us except for Senusret really know what was going on in that workplace and I dare say that the workplace conditions there would have to be interesting at the very least for him to want to get out of there so quickly. Some people just don't gel well with some of the other people in their workplace on occasion and quite often they will decide to move on in order to keep their own mental well-being up. If this is the case, well that bridge was already burned well before this incident, even if he did have a good working relationship with most of his other colleagues.

Also who are we to lecture this guy about principals? I think that you just broke one just then, which is "don't judge, unless ye thee-self be judged". I'm not going to comment on your opinion about community service organisations and institutions, though I am curious as to what your opinion is on teachers, considering they work in the most important community service of them all, yet are paid to do it.

As for the stuff about representation of different groups considering hes quit his job, putting it bluntly, I doubt those organisations would even care considering similar situations I have witnessed in the past when I've helped organise events for my university. It shouldn't be theirs or our business either way though, and would be like if I asked you for your financial details even though I had no financial activities with your business.
If however he does decide to go for a similar position, considering the other ways that any future employer would be able to enquire about his previous preformance in that job, I hardly think that a single potentially problematic reference would be as major a problem as you suggest, esspecially if he explained the situation truthfully and in detail.

Also Senusret, I can see what you mean about a lot of people here being GLBTI friendly. I'm sure a lot of you remember the post I made a few months ago asking if anyone knew of any service sororities that accept transgendered folk like myself. Since then I've been absolutely amazed by the help that I've received and friendly attitudes, esspecially from people such as Tom, Cutiepie, basically the rest of the mods, Dionysus, PSUSigKap and the OPA service-sorority girls that I have been talking to, which are MaryAmanda and Ginger, just to name a few of the wonderful people here that I have met.


Follow your heart and you will find the way that suits you best, hun.

Congrats on the speaking engagement!!
I wish you the best and hope that by following your heart and your principles you achieve success!!
Quitting your job to follow your dreams takes alot of courage and is to be admired!

Congratulations on your speaking engagements --- that's really amazing, and there is no way you could miss out on something like that. Let us know how they go! :D

This is the internet and people are asked to comment based on the facts presented in a given post. And I did. If you want to get technical about it, you have no place saying my comments were out of line.

Principles were stated as part of that post and I posed an honest question.

Has nothing to do with judging anyone.

Senurset has posted more info about things that he expected and stated to his boss when he took the job, and that changes things quite a bit from what the original post suggested.

In any event, I don't usually make posts like the one I did above. If I thought he was worthless I would have said nothing.

Instead I saw someone who clearly devotes his time to very worthy causes who made, based on the info first presented, the kind of career blunder that came come back to haunt you later in more ways that one.

And so my comment was intended to offer another perspective that I thought was valuable- and in a tone that I thought appropriate to stimulate thought. And if my thought was not wanted, this should not have been posted on a public internet board where I am a member.

I have had many jobs and bosses I hated- once I gave notice after 8 days on a new project. But I still have a positive reference if I need it because of how it was handled. I have also seen people burn bridges and not realize until long down the road what it had cost them.

Senurset- more power to you. We are strangers and I have no beef with you. I just thought you deserved more than a "good choice" comment about a major life event- or I would have left it alone entirely.

I genuinely wish you and all who give service to their communities well, but even these kinds of positions are "jobs" in a sense- and it pays to look out for yourself to a certain degree in practical terms as well as the ideals you espouse.

Well ok, if thats your reasoning I'm sorry for getting up you to that extent, because I agree with some of it now that you have shown why you said it. I sometimes get a little peeved off when I see someone getting a few really critical comments when I think they are doing something brave, esspecially in regards to GLBTI matters and I can sometimes come accross harsher than I mean to be. Must be my red hair and scottish heritage that brings out a little fire in me, I suppose. ;)

Though still, the simple situation is that unless we are actually from that workplace we'll never know what other extinuating circumstances might of been going on, and I think that you can agree with me on that. Anyway thats my opinion and I hope that I haven't offended anyone with what I have posted.

Hey sometimes getting rid of a job is the best thing. I hope all goes well with your trip. And, it does sound like you have a back up plan with substitutions and all. Good luck!! :)

Thanks everyone for the kind words and well wishes. :)

Which weekend? Like...next? (I wasn't paying attention..)

I have a rental property about 10 min's out from Athens...I'll be there the weekend of the 15th-16th!

Good luck!

No worries. I am German and Swedish myself. Not sure what that means but I am very tall and do like to drink.

Maybe I could have been more diplomatic, but I was just thinking about what a big thing it can be to burn a bridge.

Anyhow, best of luck to you Senusret in your good works.

I have been neglect in wishing you the best of luck.

Quiting a job is never easy, but if the job and supervisor sucks, then get on with life and be happy!:)

I have had many jobs over the years, some good and some bad.

If a dead end, then hit it and get it, go for the new and invigorationg life.

Make your mark else where!
:D