A bump in the road

"Uh huh, I understand." Gary said into the phone, not really understanding at all. "And I have how long to pay for this?"

"Uh, huh. Well, thanks for explaining this all to me. OK, Bye."

Gary buried his head in his arms on the desk.

"Hey, Gary," his eternally upbeat officemate popped in. "What's up?"

"I'm a magnet for disaster. I just found out that I'm on the hook for over $5,000 in old debt that my Aunt Louise owed before she died. No good deed..."

"Don't worry about it, man. It's just a little bump in the road."

"How am I going to shell out that kind of cash?"

"Really, Gar. It will be fine." And he buzzed out again.

Gary put his head back down. It was Thursday, and he still had to finish a big project before the weekend. He felt the weight of his dead-end middle manager job crushing him.

On the way home, he thought about his life 20 years ago. He was a drummer in a band. Young. Passionate. Carefree.

And now here he was. Middle-aged. Stressed. Tied down to a job he hated.

And so as his car crept along in the interminable traffic, he started to compose letters in his head. "Dear Human Resources.... I am writing to inform you that as of October 1, I will be leaving the company." And another, "Dear Tenant Management.... I am writing to inform you that as of October 1, I will be terminating my lease." After that would be a form at the post office to terminate mail delivery. And a stop at the bank to withdraw his meager savings.

It was time to make some changes.

Maybe if they couldn't find him, he'd be able to find himself.