call me crazy

I miss agency life. I know, advertising is grueling. Yes I was underpaid, overworked and underappreciated. Yes, I had such a long commute to work that I barely saw my kids during the week. Yes, when I was away from work, I was constantly thinking about what I had to deal with as soon as I got in the next day.

But then there are the things that constantly enter my mind...the aspects that now make me realize that, even though I was stressed out at times and annoyed that I should have been making more for the amount of work I was doing, I was really happy there. I was inspired creatively by the amazing group of talent that I interacted with on a daily basis. I made some of the best friends in my life and even brought one other best friend in to work there, as well.

There was a social aspect to work. After Sam was born, and 16 months later, Grace was born, I was a busy, working mom who didn't have much time to do much of anything in the evenings or on the weekends except feed and bathe kids and clean up the house and do laundry. But I didn't resent it, probably because of the social setting I walked in to for 8...9...sometimes 10 or 11 hours of the day, 5 days a week.

We worked our asses off, but also formed a support group amongst each other. We worked on a large variety of nationally-recognized clients. We shared most meals during the work day together and a few here and there after work. We gathered around the islands in the sea of cubicles to share an afternoon snack (or a "smoke break" of popcorn). We scoped out the yummy leftovers from client meetings. We sat in the dark...the sweet, calm dark. We sang with each other over the cube walls. We had ridiculous, insider, made-up scenarios that we created a game of pulling over on freelancers. We had mini-Olympics to see who could hurdle an island and actually make it over without hurting themselves (and I'm still laughing over it). We gathered to discuss LOST, Project Runway, Survivor, Everwood, The Biggest Loser, The Office, Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy...the list goes on...

We lost a couple along the way to exciting moves to other agencies. We were sad to see them go, but still had a large group left.

We kept each others' pregnancies a secret until we were far enough along to spread the word around the office. We had baby pools, and basketball pools, and bets on who would get engaged or knocked up next. We celebrated holidays together...office parties, non-office parties, Halloweens, Christmases. We had wedding showers and baby showers. Our significant others became friends...our kids became friends.

Then, the Great Turnover of '06 started and we kept each others' interviews and job prospects a secret. And we had bets on who would be the next to leave. We had going-away parties. And then we left, one by one.

Now there are only a handful from the "original" group still there and when they talk about others at work, I don't usually recognize the names. And when I go into work now, I sit in my quiet little corner under the awful florescent lights and listen to the sound of forklifts through the wall. I eat my lunch at my desk or with my husband, who I'll see every evening, and I talk to others from my department, who sit a state away, through email or on the phone and...I miss agency life.

So, this past weekend was an important one. A few of the old crew was able to gather to celebrate the wedding of a former co-worker. Kris and I were also able to sneak in a visit with another old co-worker (the one who was a best friend before she came to work with me) and her husband the night before the wedding. We ate, drank, reminisced, laughed, danced, broke glasses, watched drunks and then it was over.

And I'm happy for the mini-reunion. But wishing we could all see each other more often.

I miss agency life.