Will you call my name?

"Don't you forget about me" Simple Minds

I've done really stupid things in my professional life.

From asking how much a job paid during the very early stages of an interview to severing several relationships due to plagiarism (just for the record, someone plagiarized me). Hey, you live and learn.

On my last day of my full-time job I sat at my desk and tried to swallow every single detail of that place where I'd worked many hours for years. The swiveling char, the velvety curtains, the single-ply toilet paper, the blue recycling bins, the glass doors, my cork wall, which now looked bare and sad. I wondered who would take over my desk. I imagined their new routines. I figured since it's the corporate world, I would never set foot in there again. I mean, you need a badge. Actually, you need two badges. No way I'm going to come in here again. Better take a mental picture.

*Snap*

Done.

I can get sentimental like this. When I close doors, I like to savor the moment and recognize it's happening in order to move on.

Fast-forward to less that a year after my mental pictures and teary goodbyes and I'm right back at the desk in front of my old desk. Wait. What is going on?

I swear that if I had a magic ball back in 2013 and saw this scene from the future, I would have demanded an explanation with a shaky voice. What the hell is happening? Why am I there again?

Let me explain.

There is such thing as leaving your job gracefully. I didn't give many explanations and people didn't try to stop me. So, I wasn't either TOO INDISPENSABLE that they would hate me for leaving or TOO TERRIBLE that they would hate to see me again. But apparently I must have done something right because when they began crafting a new project—in Spanish—they thought of my services and called me in. At first I thought it was going to be all boom boom done! and that I could help from home. Soon, I realized I was spending more time in the office (the one with the mental picture) and among known faces. IT WAS VERY WEIRD. My desk was taken over, by a very nice girl who always says hi, by the way, and there were other changes that caught my eye.

 

Photo: Todd Pearson (Getty)

Don't close that door quite yet! Looks like a party in there.

The funny thing was that I was there but I wasn't really there. Soon I would be done and gone once again.

So this is my advice to you, even if you didn't ask for it. If you're going to quit a job, work hard until the very last minute, say something funny on your goodbye email, and keep an open mind.
You never know when you'll be back!