Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave
I've never had time for the people who say that asking someone at a party what he or she does for a living is a perfidiously superficial thing, a nasty, sycophantic thing, a Washington thing. I've always been interested in people's jobs.
And no job interested me more than mine. That's why it feels so strange to say my job is coming to an end.
You may have heard that The Washington Post is in a financial hole of about $100 million and, to save money, is offering buyouts to hundreds of employees in the hopes that 240 of them will take such a buyout. I received the email in October. The subject line read: “You are eligible for the voluntary separation package.”
I have decided to separate voluntarily.
This is not my last column – it will appear later this month. This is a column in which I do what I've done so many times in this space: invite readers to do my work for me. You were so good at providing your opinions and experiences (from celebrity lookalikes to bad grammar) that I would like to contact you again. I want to hear from people who left a job they loved and did something they (hopefully) loved just as much.
Honestly — and I've never been anything but honest in this column — I'm a little worried about what I'm going to do next, what I'm going to be next. I know it's partly due to vanity. I worry that I've allowed myself to base my identity too much on my job. What is left of me without my job?
Of course, it's not like people asked for an autograph at the supermarket checkout, but even if people have never heard of me – and most of them haven't! – You’ve heard of the Washington Post. I have read it myself since I was a child. I was proud to sail under the banner of my hometown newspaper. Working here has allowed me to meet all sorts of interesting people and visit interesting places. And I never wanted free pens and notepads. Will it all disappear like tears in the rain?
My job has given my life structure. This probably applies to every job, but especially to this one. Since March 7, 2004, I know that I will spend almost every weekday morning writing a column and almost every weekday afternoon reporting for a future column.
Knowing that I won't do that makes me feel like I'm stuck. I remember a column I wrote years ago about the last fire horses in Washington. When they were replaced by fire engines, hundreds of horses were sent out to pasture. They couldn't be retrained for other jobs because they went crazy every time they heard a bell or an alarm. They had spent their lives answering bells. They couldn't stop suddenly.
I'm lucky that I can leave this job without knowing what I'll do next – or if I'll do anything other than watch Netflix. (I was going to say Amazon Prime, but then I would have to mention this Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Owner of The Washington Post and Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on the board of Amazon.)
I am in a much better situation than my younger colleagues who have to decide whether to accept the takeover without the payout and pension to which I am entitled as someone who has worked here for 34 years. I feel for them, as I feel for anyone trying to build a career in journalism these days.
Honestly, I recently started thinking I need to slow down. I remember how old my predecessor was Bob Levey That's when he made a takeover in 2004 and I took over this column. Bob was 58. I'm 61.
Still, it will be strange to see something/think something/wonder something and have no place to put it. They say the unexamined life is not worth living. Is the uncolumned observation worth it? Deprived of my power outlet, will I start delivering 800-word monologues at the breakfast table, in front of the dog, in front of strangers on the subway?
And so I ask myself: what did you do? How did you manage the transition from working to not working? Have you tried estimating your workdays? Have you taken a completely new path? Have you traveled to Peru and participated in an Ayahuasca ceremony hoping to shatter the illusion of selfhood?
Send me your experiences – with “The Retiring Kind” in the subject line – to [email protected]. I may share your observations in a future column. But not too far in the future. I only have a few weeks left.
We're halfway through this year's Washington Post Helping Hand campaign. Have you already donated? To find out more about our charity partners – Bread for the city, Place of friendship And Miriam's kitchen – Visit posthelpinghand.com. Thank you very much.
John Kelly's Washington
Check out 3 more stories