Sep 22, 2009

What a difference a day makes

It was 11:02 on Monday when she countersigned. The final act. The thing that sealed it.

At 11:03 I was a free woman. Sort of.

To be perfectly honest with you, the whole experience turned out to be rather anticlimatic. I wasn't expecting a marching band, or fireworks, or a giant Mexican wave, but a hug would have been nice. A couple of "woohoo girls". The perfect pop of a champagne cork. Something.

Instead I lolled around the office for a few hours, doing nothing in particular. For fun, at lunch, I went up to the cafeteria to shock people but despite the brief shadow of jealousy that passed over their features before the stern looks of disapproval returned, I tired of that quickly.

And yet, something was bound to happen. I could feel it. This was an important day, dammit, this was the beginning of the rest of my life. The moment I would be able look back to and say "ha! there it is! right there!"

So I started small. A smile. A spontaneous date for a harvest weekend. A writing partner. Macaroni & cheese and a glass of red wine.

All in all, a not too shabby way to top off the day I quit my job.

6 comments:

Consultant Ninja said...

Congrats! Having recently made the same maneuver, I must say that the good feelings you are having right now continue for quite some time.

TorpeDiscipulo said...

Go Res! Virtual hugs and champagne popping from Madrid!

Yangtze said...

Hey - I'm a current INSEAD student and have been following your blog for over a year now. Congrats on the new found freedom and look forward to your first book! :)

The ANALyst said...

Congrats!!!! And welcome to the club! All the best for whatever lies ahead. Have you thought about what you want to do next.

If you want to chill out, the Emerging Economy offers some great opportunities!

Consultant Insider said...

Sorry / jealous to hear it. If not for the prospect of business school I might be doing exactly the same thing. Good luck in whatever is next!

Anonymous said...

Rational people spend 50,000 Euros to attend B-school to land jobs at investment banks or consulting firms and then complain because the work consists of... consulting and banking!