And Jayme Said: It is Good

So you all know the supermarket scene near the end of Shawshank when Red asks to go to the bathroom? "Forty years I been askin' permission to piss," he says. "I can't a squeeze a drop with say-so."

Well, yesterday I had a Red moment. It was a beautiful day out. I'd been freshening up a policy paper for two-and-a-half hours. And darn it all-- I was gonna eat my lunch outside. I sent an email to my comm. team informing them I was stepping out (from 12:30 to 1:00) and attached my cell number in case they need to get a hold of me.

Suddenly, Jessica laughs in the next cubicle. "Jayme, you can just go," she said. "No one's gonna need you. Oh, yeah. And you can take an hour. If you run over, no one's timing you."

Compare, for a second, this shining revelation with a time when frantic strangers would get me out of bed at 6:30 a.m., I'd receive three urgent ETA-requests if I took a wrong turn somewhere, and I always kept a charged camera, black windbreaker and extra makeup in the car in case I ever drove up on a drunk-driving accident at 3 a.m. on a Sunday. Oh yeah... I did.

On Wednesday (my first day), HR was almost apologetic when they told me I have 11 paid holidays off. I kindly reminded them that I've worked every Christmas, Thanksgiving and Fourth of July since 2005.

Now I know this gig is going to get stressful (quickly, perhaps) and I'll form a new list of things that make me grind my teeth. But I've found the transition from one career to the next quite refreshing. I'm sure someone trapped in a cubicle like mine for a number of years would be equally enamored with the physical freedom my old job offers.

Since I never focus on an impending list of negative aspects, here's a list of things that make me very happy these days:

-my relaxing, hour-long reading session while the MBTA takes me to work each day
-being greeted with a sunrise each time I step onto Atlantic Ave.
-seeing the word "Atlantic"
-all the policemen and construction workers say "Hi" back
-the main Boston Fire Department building looks like it came out of a Superman movie
-at least a dozen high school and college friends work within walking distance
-buildings here do not impede the scenery; they are the scenery
-I can take an hour for lunch and no one can bother me
-I can eat my lunch in Quincy Market
-I have health insurance again!! (Diabetes + no coverage = expensive and scary... not gonna lie)
-each day at 5 o'clock, I'm greeted by a Harbor breeze I am inadequate to describe
-my day ends at 5 o'clock
-I don't come home to an empty house
-the Sox game is always televised
-I can go to Homecoming without sprinting the length of O'Hare airport in 11 minutes

I think Red said it best: I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

And yes, the Atlantic is as blue as it was in my dreams.

Rube

Boston, You're My Home

Finally, the blog I couldn't wait to write (but had to for 6 weeks).

I have a job.

I'm the newest communications associate (a/k/a utility infielder) on the Comm. team at Jobs for the Future, a national non-profit group in Boston that helps create equal educational opportunities for our nation's disenfranchised youth and young adults. It's main goal is to see a degree or specialty certification beyond a HS diploma in the hands of every American by age 26. Talk about a mission I can invest my passion in. I start September 19th.

Check out our website: www.jff.org

So why non-profit communications? What's wrong with local news?

I believe Journalists serve an incredible purpose in this country. They have the power to give voice to the voiceless, hold our public officials accountable, warn us about a variety of dangers, empower us to act upon those warnings, encourage us to participate in social events that matter to us, and paint us a larger, fuller picture of our place and time than we could imagine on our own.

That said: it's not for me. I believe I work better with one mission and one set of goals. On the issue of America's education gap, I'm gaining a clearer perspective of where we are. And I know where I want us to be. A to B. Journalism is not an A-to-B industry. It's comprised of millions of tiny a-to-b stories, true. But the way I see it, Journalism's mission is without end-point: Tell. It is relentless; it is thankless. And anyone who takes up the cause for the right reasons has my utmost admiration and gratitude.

It's just not for me. And maybe this next job won't be either. But my likes and dislikes for it will undoubtedly guide me further up the road to my next attempt at creating positive and lasting changes in our society.

At least my hiatus is up. It absolutely sucked. I won't sprinkle any sugar on that. But I'm changing careers at 25. I wasn't expecting a red carpet and a job offer attached to every flashbulb. It's done. Let's move on.

Thank you all for your support. I hope you know you all have mine. Whenever, however you need it.

I'll end on a laugh, courtesy of my ol pal Fitzy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFfobQftP5k&watch_response

See you in Beantown.
Rube

Happy 10,000 Hits!

"Here I am... let's see if this proves to be any fun."

Those first words, typed on 2/26/06, proved to be quite the understatement.

I started this Blog at the loneliest point in my life. Nine months into my first big-boy job, I was still developing my big-boy skills and my earliest southwest friendships. I was still months away from meeting most of my dear Cruces crew. And a few weeks after that post, my landlord would compound my isolation by kicking me out (if you haven't heard that story, feel free to ask. It's rather entertaining). The point is: this blog allowed me feel closer with all of you, from El Paso, to Syracuse, to Boston... to Oslo, Norway (Heia, Crissy). And each of your views have inspired me to keep writing.

What's even better is that this blog has spawned other relationships. I know at least a dozen of you who have traded comments on one blog or another and, from there, have started regular conversations of your own.

I hope my writing continues to bring us closer, as well as encourage you all to share more of yourself with others. Be it through blogging, or poetry, pictures, music, dance, we all need outlets. And honestly, we all need feedback on those outlets to feel validated, feel valued... to just keep feeling.

And so on this day of my 10,000th BlogHit, I thank you for visiting my outlet from time to time... bringing us that much closer.

Keep reading. Keep commenting.

I intend to have some good job-related news for you, soon. In the meantime... it's time to go upstairs and iron my lucky Troy Brown jersey.

Til next time,
JaRube