Last Day: GM
My last shift at GM was an odd one. My last hockey game 2 weeks prior had been downright ideal with a 4-1 victory over Detroit of which I got to see every goal and everyone was nice. This shift however was something different.
First off I nearly didn’t go, my friend Sam offered to take me to the states but I was going the next day anyway, I had to return my uniform, and I had promised my partner’s sister I would be there for her first concert.
Secondly, as the shift began I started to feel a little bit like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 3: a day from retirement and a giant bullseye on my back. Or worse the McBane spoof from The Simpsons. Would I be cursing Mendoza by the end of the night?
And of course there was an unusually high number of evictions that night and right out the gate I was at.
I was able to get my partner’s sister access to the floor after much running around.
One pleasant surprise was that I’d been assigned to Patti’s briefing which meant she would Be my supervisor for my last day. We both found it very appropriate. She gave me a hug at the end of the shift “because we probably won’t see each other again” which I told her was nonsense.
The night seemed to drag on forever, 40 minutes after the concert people still wouldn’t leave. Finally we cleared the building and at the debrief Patti told everyone that it was my last day. Everyone seemed disappointed to see me go, I didn’t even know half of their names! Turns out they sure knew mine. Several people tried to change my mind saying it wouldn’t be the same without me.
And here I thought I barely showed up on their radar. It was like every shift was a perpetual first day of school. The people who didn’t try talking me out of it acted like I’d won the lottery - congratulations and handshakes all around. Frankly it was the nicest this group had ever been to me.
I didn’t think for a second that I was making a mistake.
