What we glean from carpooling

Mulletville Corp must have read my last post (the one where I lamented that I never get to go anywhere) because on Monday they told me that I, along with three co-workers, were going to a week-long conference on the other side of the state. (In Connecticut lingo, that's like being told you're being sent to Texas).

I won't bore you with the details of the conference, except to say that communication conferences are brutal. If people spent less time talking about how to communicate and just shut up and did their work, the world would be a better place.

Small bonus of the trip: I got to see a legitimate handlebar moustache.

I said small, didn't I?

My fellow co-workers and I carpooled every day. I hadn't been to the other side of Connecticut since I used to commute there. I'd forgotten about wishing my car came equipped with secret death rays because of the insane traffic.

My co-workers were as shell-shocked as I, mostly because all of them are Mulletville-born and -raised (ew).

I could lie and say that after all that forced together time I have a new appreciation for Donna in purchasing, and Drew in IT, and Phyllis in HR but I don't. They're all shitty drivers. Donna's bracelets clanged too much. Drew has ugly ties. Phyllis has a fake laugh and shares way too much about who uses Mulletville Corp's confidential counseling service.

The highlight of our drive was talking about the popularity of The Hunger Games.

That, um, can only take you so far.

There was a silver lining though, so to speak: a point in the drive home every night when traffic lost its tight grip and we were able to break away. The feeling of being released, as opposed to being caged, was palpable. A calmness would come over me. I'd realize I was 10 minutes away from home and driving toward everything that matters to me.

It's a good direction to be driving in.

(Can you tell I'm going somewhere with this? Can you?)

In fact, it's the only direction I'd like to be driving in.

(Do you see it now? Do ya?)

That feeling solidified something Chuck and I have been talking about for awhile. Something I've been wanting for a long, looooong time.

(Ah yes, now you see it.)

And so on Friday, I decided to go for it. After I climbed out of Drew's Toyota, I tossed my "Best Communication Ever! EVER!!!" conference materials into the recycling bin and I called my boss.

I told her I will be leaving Mulletville Corp sometime in the next month or so.

It's not official, it's not even on paper.

But it's something.