Whew, made it through another one!

Boy, lately it just seems that I absolutely hate going to work and once I get there I can't wait to get home. The money's okay, but the work itself is not very satisfying. I just watch the clock as the hours drag by - "Everybody's working for the weekend" goes the Loverboy song (I originally said Foreigner did this song - I deeply apologize to those Loverboy fans out there). I know that public accounting is not something I want to do for the rest of my life, but I'm sticking with it for one more year so I can get at least one year of experience as a CPA under my belt. Just hope I can make it through one more tax season before I go completely insane.

I get along alright with my co-workers, but most of them are so radically different than me. Several of them seem to be conservative, yuppie-types who got into accounting to find the tax breaks and are Republican for the same reason. I grew up in a conservative, rural community, so I'm sort of used to biting my tongue and avoiding controversial subjects such as religion and politics. My family, whom I love dearly, are fairly conservative as well. Thank goddess for my friends who keep me sane!

I've decided that next summer I'm going to start looking for a new job. Maybe it's too much to ask to find an accounting job for a company/organization of which I can be proud - one that reflects my more liberal views and ideals, but still pays well (how very materialistic of me). One of the reasons I decided to become an accountant is that I can work in a variety of fields. Every company needs an accountant, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself. Just something where I can actually relate to some of my co-workers would be nice.

Example of what I mean: A few weekends ago I went to the March for Women's Lives in Washington, DC with my friends Angela and Vanessa. I was THRILLED to be going to stand up and raise my voice for something in which I so whole-heartedly believe. I marched down Pennsylvania Avenue with a million other men and women who felt exactly the same way I did about women's rights. It was such a wonderful, amazing experience. I told my co-workers that I would be missing work that Monday because I was going to DC. So many of them asked the obligatory question, "Whaddaya goin' to DC fer?"

My response was, "Oh, I've got a couple of friends who are going. They asked me if I wanted to go and I said, 'Sure, I've never been to DC so why not.'"

When I got back, the question was, "Whadidya see while you were in DC?"

And I told the truth, sort of. "Well, we walked down and saw the White House and the Washington Monument when we got there. It was night and everything was lit up and so pretty. Unfortunately, none of my pictures from that night turned out. And on Sunday, well, there was a march going on, so we didn't get to see a lot of sights then."

PATHETIC! I knew no one from work would understand that the March was for so much more than abortion rights that I didn't even give myself a chance to explain the march to them. Did I mention that women in this country are being denied basic health care and prescription drugs? Or that women in other parts of the world are dying because husbands and other male family members were killed in wars the U.S. started and the women are not allowed to see doctors without a male chaperone? Or any of the other many reasons for the March? NO! I chickened out! I have to work with these people in that small office and I didn't want to be ostracized for my beliefs. So I chose to say nothing.

I think a better work environment is exactly what I need. I just have to stick it out one more year.