I suppose it has something to do with age—none of my friends are at the age where we feel settled into a career exactly, and the possibility of something better is always over the horizon.

That’s why quitting is doubly hard, because when your friends should be really happy for you, instead they’re secretly sort of mad at you for rocking the boat. Those last two weeks at any job are always so passive-aggressive, your office both celebrating your great news and begrudging you leaving for greener pastures (and often sticking them with your work until someone can be hired.)

The weirdness is temporary, though. People get over that pretty quickly, and then they’re just happy for you and sad to see you go. Frank-wise, I’m just really excited that he might possibly finally be doing something that doesn’t make him angry all the time. As far as the stuff at my office goes, it can just be hard to remember that though you can and should love certain people at work and be emotionally invested in their lives, it’s important to remember not to get too invested in the group psyche at the office, or you’ll end up getting upset to hear your friends are moving on instead of being proud of them.

Hopefully that’s something I can get better at as I age. As I told my work friend, barring some kind of major luck, I plan to have to have a day job for a good long time. I don’t want to spend it being bitter about my lot.