I quit my job last week, and I have to say, it’s an entirely satisfying experience. It’s the second time I’ve quit a good job this year, and I highly recommend it! Nothing beats the feeling of whiling away your remaining days with no responsibility.

I won’t bore you with the reasoning for my resignation, but suffice to say, 2007 was the year I decided to never work for a multinational corporation ever again. If you currently give your time to a CEO in a far away Ivory Tower, you would know the disconnected sensation of smashing you budget only to raise the carat count on your boss’s new golden back scratcher.

If you haven’t been reading my previous entries (for which I don’t blame you), you may not know that I’ve worked in and around the skate industry for almost 10 years. For the most part, I have been behind the counter gripping boards and lacing shoes as a manager in a city skateshop.

Like any job, it had good and bad days. The good days were filled with fun kids, fun staff and all round good skateboarding vibes. It’s a dream job for any teenage skater. But when it was bad, it really sucked. Unstable junkies, kooks looking for longboards, mind-numbing tedium, primadonna amateurs, smelly teenage feet, cranky mums, sketchy thieving graffers, mid-puberty weirdo’s, lurkers, compulsive liars and rollerbladers can all contribute to harshing your carefully constructed mellow.

So after 10 years working on both sides of the counter, I quit.

What I did gain in these years, was a short lifetime of stories and people. I’ve met some of my heroes, and discovered that most of them are rad dudes. Except for Tom Penny, I don’t think he knew he was even in Australia. Remember that Simpsons episode when all the parents have gone away and the kids are wandering the streets? You can see Ralph in the background walking aimlessly into walls? That was Penny. He’s pretty fried.

I’ve known a lot of shop lurkers who have grown up to be well known international skaters, and some who blew it before they got the chance. Lay off the bongs kids…. Drugs are bad.

Ultimately, I hope to use this blog to share some of my better stories. But you’ll have to wait until I’m out the door because – in the words of one well known powerbroker holding an ‘influential’ position in the industry – I’d be committing ‘skateboarding suicide’ if I did so.

When quitting a job, however, there are always people you don’t want to leave behind. Have a quick look at this kid and try and tell me he wouldn’t make you day that little bit more interesting!

But I guess the whole point of this sob story is to tell you about a really old friend of mine. He was hired the day I was, and like a fatally wounded street cop, he’s just 3 days away from retirement. Old Filey, Scratchy McBoardgripper…. In 10 years I haven’t decided on a name for him, but he’s an old trusted buddy. On my last day I think I might sneak him into my bag and take him home for a comfortable retirement. Because if you look closely at his weak and feeble edges, you will understand what 10 years in skateboarding retail will do to you!

So if you’re so over your job you’re turning prematurely grey…. Quit! I did and it’s the best!

Stay tuned for skateboarding suicide!