You know, for as much as I’ve complained about working at my current/soon-to-be-former job, the idea of leaving is still somewhat bittersweet. It is, after all, a known quantity. Annoying, sure. Stressful, definitely. But known, and therefore comfortable. Like a pair of shoes well past their prime. Sure, they may make your feet and back ache, and the soles may be wearing through in places, but they still feel so right on your feet (I own that pair of shoes, by the way; they’re the hiking boots I used while living in France).

But whenever I start to lament the change too much, something inevitably reminds me of why I need to get out.

One big thing I’ve noticed is that my tolerance for “Stoopid” has decreased dramatically. What do I mean by Stoopid? Well, it’s kind of a catch-all term for those little annoyances and grievances that you tend to overlook as a means of preserving your sanity. This can be anything, from slightly overzealous demands by managers to answering the same inane questions over and over for different customers.

It’s the sort of thing I ignored until very recently, as to do otherwise would have had me even more stressed out than having to get up at four in the morning to do physical labor already leaves me. But now that the end is in sight, I’m finding it harder and harder to avoid the Stoopid. Every little thing is like nails on a chalkboard. No, that’s not quite right; every little thing is one more drop on the forehead, driving me inexorably to the breaking point.

And you know what the funny thing is? I knew this was going to happen, at least intellectually. I knew that now that I didn’t have to put up with these things, I wouldn’t want to. And yet, knowing that doesn’t change the growing annoyance. I suppose all I can do is just soldier on, knowing that the end is just around the corner.

And yet…

But hey, at least it keeps me from panicking about the new job!