Retiree
Last Day as a Working Stiff
I loaded up my wheely cart with all my equipment from my “home office”, where I spent the majority of my work-time over the past 4 1/2 years. The heaviest item was the veri-desk, a contraption that allowed me to work standing up or sitting down. I loaded it all into my car, and embarked on my final 55-mile drive into the office in DC.
I knew, in terms of work, it would be a slow day. New Year’s Eve and the day after Thanksgiving are typically the two slowest workdays of the year. There wasn’t a whole lot left to do, workwise, besides two meetings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, both virtual.
I wasn’t expecting to get emotional, but on the drive in, I thought about Dad, and before I knew it, I was welling up with emotion. I just let the tears flow, tears of gratitude, remembering Dad’s impact on this job. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even have taken this job. He, along with Kathy, my then-fiance, prevailed upon me to reconsider my decision to decline the offer. That was one of the best decisions I ever made. He’d said there was more of a future with this job than I had working as a machinist in a shop down the road from where they lived. I had just learned the value of listening to wise counsel, and decided to follow what sounded like that, rather than my own instincts.
My own instincts had taken me through 17 jobs in 4 years. I was getting tired of that! So, 40 years and 3 months later, here I was, going in for my last day on a job that so far exceeded my, or anyone else’s expectations, it’s simply hard to believe these 40+ years even happened!
But they did. And now, this chapter was on its final page. Besides the two meetings, I spent the day mostly going through everything in my office, deciding what to pitch, what to take with me, and what to leave there for my replacement. There really wasn’t that much to go through, since I’d done the heavy-lifting of this exercise 4 years ago, when it became apparent that Covid was going to be more than a few months of working remotely. They were also planning to move our offices that fall, so I’d pretty much sorted through most of my accumulated stuff from all these years, then.
My office neighbor across the hall, Joe the Chief Human Capital Officer, was in, as he usually is when I am. Carol, the head of our Public Affairs and Consumer Education, was chatting with Joe. Joe had started as the director of our Labor and Employee Relations division, coming on board the day before the extended government shutdown in 2013. He’d worked for me, in his current capacity, for a couple years when I was in charge of the Office of Management. He’s from Philadelphia and is a die-hard Eagles fan.
Carol had gone through the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) program the year after I did, and I remembered watching her rise to her current level years before I joined the executive ranks. She was apparently ready — it took me years after FEI to even want to go there, and only did when I was asked to apply for a job. I didn’t get that one, but it broke my resistance down and eventually did get the same job I hadn’t gotten the first time.
That’s been the story of my career. I’ve learned to take the setbacks in the same stride as I took the successes, understanding that it was all part of the dance. At the end of the day, I was grateful to have a job with such an interesting outfit. So many opportunities to do new and interesting things have come my way — I very rarely suffered from boredom on this job!
One of the items I debated whether to pitch or take with me was this ridiculously over-sized (18" x 24") certificate of appreciation I was given for chairing the agency’s Feds Feed Families campaign in 2016. It’s mounted on a hard styro-foam backing. I decided to take it with. I was proud of what we achieved with that campaign. I got tapped to lead it the same year I moved into the executive ranks and was heading up the Office of Management, without a deputy. I was also dealing with a difficult brain tumor.
They had raised 123,000 pounds of food the year before, so our goal was simply to exceed that amount. With two weeks left in the 3 months-long campaign, I was beginning to hope we’d even break the 100K mark. We tried everything, and it just seemed like we weren’t going to get there. However, a last-minute push, and thanks to a lot of field offices that reported their numbers a little later than the rest, we not only exceeded the previous year’s total — we doubled it! We managed to raise 248,000 pounds of food for those in need. I am proud of that accomplishment! I’ll hang onto this one for a little while, at least.
Finally, after the afternoon meeting, where I was able to say farewell to many of my fellow executives, and introduce them to my replacement, I was all packed up and ready to roll into retirement. I walked through the old South Agriculture Building one last time, with my cart full of personal affects, loaded my car up, then left the building, giving the garage guard my badge and parking pass.
That drive home was glorious — my last time commuting! I stopped at Wegman’s for some groceries, noting that it felt a lot like my first day on vacation. Only, this one will never have to end!
Knowing me, in a couple weeks I’ll be ready to start doing something more constructive, so I have lined up a volunteer training with a local food bank on the 14th, where I’ll learn the ropes of driving around to pick up food from stores, and sign up to deliver monthly supplies of food to the elderly all over five counties in this neck of Virginia. I will need that to do, no matter what else I get going with here. I need to keep giving back, and food insecurity is an issue near and dear to my soul.
