Red Right 88

Cleveland sports fan and sports writer

Name:
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, United States

quit my job decided to drive west

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Two weeks later

It's been two weeks. But essentially it has been one long day. After I hung up the phone that Wednesday morning, I scrambled to my computer to try and copy my email contacts as fast as I could to a new account. It was a good thing too since they deleted my account and voice messages later that afternoon (thanks goodness for the standard company laziness).
I admit to having a few adult beverages that first night but I haven't really drank that much since. Mostly I stay up all night watching movies and sleeping as deep into the afternoon as I can.
I rarely have left the apartment other to spend an hour or two a day with my parents where I watch movies and eat.
I also plead guilty to checking out the sports page at the library. I feel extremely guilty towards the kids and coaches. I knew eight months ago who would one day be given my job and my worst fears about what would happen to the section I built up appear to be justified. Sorry.
I have not written in this spot because I was waiting for a few things to happen. Yesterday I received my last check. And this morning I received my determination from Unemployment. I know it is not a court of law but the fact that a faceless bureaucracy has declared, "Ohio's legal standard that determines if a discharge is without cause is whether the claimant's acts, omissions, or of course conduct were such that an ordinary person would find the find the discharge to justifiable. After a review of the facts, this agency finds the claimant was discharged without just cause."
And well that made me happy. I knew I didn't deserve to be discharged. The coaches and you the lovely reader knew but sometimes you need to see it in print.
Can I now move on? I don't know. I loved the work but always hated the job. Attending games, interviewing kids and coaches and then taking a blank screen and turning it into something different every week was fun. I even liked deadlines and the pressure that came with them. But the office was a dreary place to be. It is tough being surrounded by people who don't care and have no commitment to being the best they can be. It was emotionally draining and frustrating and there was nothing in my DNA that could allow me to accept it.
I would like to say I will start posting columns here but I have never been good at writing for myself. I have always needed an audience. And my audience is now gone.