Lion Rampant, one year later

[pyat]

One year ago this week I handed in my resignation at the Canadian Office Products Association. I'd worked there for 3.5 years. They weren't bad years at all, and seem even rosier in retrospect. I had a corner office and would go hours without twitching a muscle.

I quit that job to take a position in sales and market development at Lion Rampant Imports, Canada's largest distributor of RPGs, wargames, and assorted nerdly goodness. I started working there on November 13th. By the 16th, I was starting to think I'd made a mistake. By the 21st, I was asking people for freelance work.

On December 3rd, at 8:19 AM I wrote:
45 minutes of close conference with a rubber duck in the tub last night have convinced me that I'm wasting my time at Lion Rampant...

...at some point soon - maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon - I'm walking out into the void, whether or not I have a job waiting for me. I'd be happier as an unpaid househusband.

"Maybe not tomorrow" turned out to be "less than an hour later."

I walked into work at 9:01 AM, looked at the list of calls I had to make, wrote a resignation letter, and walked out at 9:07 AM. On the bus home, I was in a sort of state of shock, mingled with absolute and utter relief, and a sort of pride at being "master of my fate" and so forth. As I settled in at home, this turned into a mix of guilt, with relief certainly the more powerful feeling. I'd worked 14 days at Lion Rampant... and 6 minutes.

As it turns out, quitting was the smartest career move I have ever made. By that afternoon, I had two job interviews lined up. The second one was for CCI Inc.. I was hired there as a freelancer at triple the pay I was getting at Lion Rampant, and was hired full-time in January. I work in an exciting neighbourhood, and get to hang out with cool people who work nearby.

This past summer, I bumped into Lion Rampant's president at the local game store. I spoke with him for a few minutes, and learned that the fellow who hired me was laid off a few weeks after I quit, along with some other staffers. I'd have been laid off as well.

It is not often that life rewards us so clearly for making a rash decision.

Comments

[amarafox.livejournal.com]

I remember that whole fiasco. You seem much happier now :)

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I am, indeed! :)

[thebitterguy]

Thanks for taking that bullet.

I don't suppose your new company is hiring?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

They supposedly were going to this year, but it never happened. I'll let ya know.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Thanks for telling us the end of that story. Yay!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

And, if I'd not quit that day, I'd not have run into the old gaming buddy who happened to have a lead.

[bootler.livejournal.com]

That is a pretty awesome result for an intimidating decision. I'm quite pleased for you!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I am pleased for me, too! Thanks. :)

[mrs-dm.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, it is two years ago this week that I put in my resignation from HHS and McMaster University. I don't regret it in the slightest, although I didn't have the kind of instant good Karma that you were blessed with. Instead, I've had two years of soul-searching, weekly Jungian analysis and general homebodiness. However, things are definitely looking up now.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

However, things are definitely looking up now.

Good. :) Did you stress levels decrease after quitting?

And, we should get you into more of our RPGs!

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

You win at life! Awesome!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Huzzah! Sometimes!

[lee-in-limbo.livejournal.com]

Your story is inspiring, man.

Lee.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Lee. I hope you get some career luck of your own, soon.

[foomf.livejournal.com]

Foresight is so much better when hindsight makes you happy.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

*nods!* Definitely.

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

I get punishment for mine.

Even the carefully considered ones.