I quit my job today. Full circle. One of my first jobs in Ottawa as a wee lad of 19 was at a lighting store at the corner of Bank and Catherine. It’s now a Korean grocery store. Despite the fact that I was a dirt poor student, I quit after just one day. In fact, I just didn’t show up on day two, or even go back to collect my one day’s pay ($5/hour). I was too ashamed to tell my boss why I had to leave: I just couldn’t imagine how I could ever stand working with light bulbs all day.
Now I’m going to be Executive Director of my very own light bulb NGO. It’s a booming business. We’ve got 250,000 compact fluorescent bulbs to move this summer and no time to slack off. I’m still afraid of being dirt poor again; that will never change. But driving home today, I felt young again.
