Waiting Rewarded

I was thinking about the nature of waiting this morning, which should not surprise you. When one is job searching, there are two kinds of waiting: the vague, hopeful but not expectant wait after you apply, knowing you may never hear anything, and the specific waiting that is built on an actual foundation: you've heard something, you've been given some vague expectation of a timeline. Both are hard, of course, and doubtless I would say whichever kind I am in at any given moment is worse, but oh man, I've been in the second kind for two weeks now, checking my e-mail and phone again and again for some word, anything, and it has worn me down. My mind is not my friend, coming up with a multitude of reasons why this won't work out, second-guessing questions I asked or didn't ask, and I'm just tired of it. Coupled with the results of last night's Bruins game (let us not speak of that)(to quote local blog Stanley Cup of Chowder, "Here's a recap of Game 6, though you could go outside and look at an overflowing garbage can and it'd be a similar experience to reliving that debacle"), I was just feeling worn out with it all today. And with the cool, grey, cloudy weather that replaced yesterday's delightful sunny and hot, it wasn't the best day.

Things looked up at last (AT LAST!) at lunchtime, when I got an email from the recruiter asking when I could talk so that they could give me a verbal offer. At last! We talked, she made the offer, which is lower than I'd like but well above my basement, the I can't afford it level. She said that I could take time to consider it, which since my heart was pounding like a drum seemed like a better idea than yelling, "Are you kidding me? Yes!"

The when-can-you-start finally came up, which is significant since my employee agreement states I will give one month's notice instead of the more common two weeks.  The recruiter sounded a little surprised by this, and said that she would let the hiring manager know, in case it was an issue for her. Which, I implored the fates, let them be willing to wait, if the company won't let me out earlier (it's at their discretion). Technically, since Massachusetts is an at-will employment state, I guess I could just walk out in spite of the agreement, but I don't want to be that kind of person, even to this job.

Anyway, my please-please-please litany to the universe had a different tone this afternoon, and was interspersed with specific messages to the manager that I'm worth waiting for (because I am, damn it). And I guess she agreed, because although I don't have the offer letter yet (it has to come through corporate in California, hopefully tomorrow), the recruiter let me know that "While she would prefer to have you on board in two weeks, she understands."

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to try to take care of the bare necessities before I fall insensate into bed. Whew!