Goodbye Cruel Work

So this is it. My last day of work where I've been for the past few years. My last day of the ghey suit and tie. My last day of the stiff-ass atmo and the stodgy demeanor of everyone in any position of power at the company. My last day working for the "back office" in a company which thinks "back office" somehow means "insignificant, unworthy pond scum". My last day working for the weak-willed shell of a man known as my boss. My last day dealing with the low-base big-bonus compensation structure of an investment bank.

But it is also my last day managing a team of lawyers and analysts whom I have really grown to know and love. My last day as the biggest fish in the small group which I have basically led for the past couple of years. My last day of being The Man with the answers for everyone around me. My last day of being everyone's favorite lawyer on a team where my other colleague and even my boss don't get even a tenth of the respect that I do, from anyone. My last day of basically mentoring and guiding the professional and personal lives of so many of the people around me.

After all my griping, I am definitely feeling sad today to be leaving, I really am. And don't get me wrong -- I'm glad overall I'm getting out of this place, I know it's the right time and I know this is a move I have to make. But the bottom line is, over the past year or so in this job I have earned my first opportunity as a lawyer to really be a leader, to build a team of lawyers providing top notch support to a large subset of clients in a major company. And that aspect of things has been awesome, and frankly it is something I am giving up when I go to my new employer in a few weeks. And I'm going to miss it, quite a bit actually. So I leave today with a sense of happiness and adventure, moving on to the next thing in my career, but I don't do it with all smiles. It's a sad day for me in many ways, as I say goodbye to so many of the great people I have had the chance to meet and the opportunity to work with and to lead over the past few years of my life. I can only hope that my next job brings me some of these same challenges and some of the same opportunities I have been able to land here in my time in the bank, although overall getting out of this environment -- especially at this particular time -- is something I am looking tremendously forward to.

Now it's time to move on to the next item on my agenda -- moving from the big city to the big suburbs of New York.