wise words from my favorite lady

Right, so, first things first.

NEW TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUM. So sue me. I love her. We bonded on one marathon drive up to NYC on Thanksgiving weekend, wherein "Speak Now" was the only CD in the car, other than 2 (beautiful but) depressing Broadway musicals. After that, there was no going back.

I feel like it should be a guilty pleasure, but if I don't actually feel guilty, then I guess it's just a pleasure, right? 

T-Swift's songs have seen me through many trials (hah. but really. sometimes you just need to hear a whiny voice that's not your own, ya know?) but this week has been driven by one song in particular. It's a long, long story. But the bottom line is that some select people higher up on the food chain (ha!) at work than I am are really, really mean. We're talking, so unnecessarily rude, belittling and downright unprofessional that I've come home from work in tears on many occasions. (Ok, y'all know I'm a weeper, but even this is too much!).And on Sunday morning, after a particularly terrible Saturday night at work, I was down to my last coping mechanism. This was it:

But you know, dancing around my room singing to nobody about how mean they are? Highly cathartic. I didn't even feel the urge to walk out of work that day. Heck, I even enjoyed myself at times.

However, I did some thinking, and some praying, and a lot of talking (can I get an "amen" from my fellow verbal processors?). And I realized that not even the excellent reputation of the restaurant or the fact that I actually enjoy waiting tables or the few people whose company I enjoyed or the great pay that I receive could make up for the huge amount of anxiety I experience every time I walk in to work, or the fear that I feel when I have to work with those particularly unpleasant personalities. So despite the fact that I hate giving up, especially when I feel like I haven't spent a lot of time in a job (I've only been in this one for 2 months)--'cause what if it gets better??--I decided to give my 2 week's notice.

Instantly, I felt lighter.

Guys, this job has been weighing on me. Transitions are hard, and moving to a new city and starting a new job is never easy, but I think most of the problem was feeling so demoralized every time I came home from my job--where, as a full-time employee, I spend most of my time. Now, I'm not so spoiled that I have to love what I do every second that I'm doing it. But I do need to not feel verbally abused when I show up for work.

And today, my first day of semi-freedom (you know, the type that comes when you can see a light at the end of the tunnel), I snagged T-Swift's new album. And although, of course, I love every last one of the songs, this one seems particularly apt for my day.

Dear Soul-Killing Waitress Job:

We are never, ever, ever getting back together.

Like, ever.