My post over at Medium: Who Does Capitalism Work For?

I put in my two weeks notice today. I was a little nervous about it going into my boss’ office, but he took it well and it was a good conversation. He even floated the possibility of doing contract work for them, which I was glad about. He was more surprised than I expected, as I’ve been mentally checked out for the last few months. He has talked to me two or three times about being more energetic and proactive about working on projects, which I lied and said I would try to do. He also really wanted me to work on getting more certifications, which I wasn’t interested in doing despite the benefit it would have had for my “career.” Maybe if I hadn’t had these extra expectations I wouldn’t have checked out, but it’s hard to say and I’m not very interested in exploring that thread.

My mom had a puzzling reaction. I emailed my parents yesterday saying I was going to quit, and shortly after I got a text from my mom saying she loved me and was praying for me. My response was: “Why?” She seems to be very anxious about me not having a job.

Those friends of mine whom I hadn’t told yet had the same question: Where are you going? I explained that I’m taking some time off. Maybe it’s a result of my friends being in their 20s and early 30s, but I couldn’t help but be struck by the assumption that we must constantly be working in order to live.

For my part, I’m feeling great. Driving home from work I felt like this might permanently be my exit from the working world. I’ve been thinking about making hot sauce, in addition to the other projects I want to work on. I’m not banking on that making me independently wealthy, but maybe it could be profitable and end up being part of a mix. At any rate, I’m not having any second thoughts.