Well, I got no Choice
June 2025
I quit Universal.
Quite unceremoniously perhaps.
If you need any more reasons look no further than here.
On what would become my last day of work, I drove out to Universal with a harrowing pit in my stomach. I had known for quite some time that I couldn’t work there anymore.
The petty work rivalries I had mentioned had worsened over the past month and as a new lead I somehow found myself stuck in the middle of it all.
But I had the rare two days off coming up after this shift so I figured if I survived this day I would have this “weekend” to recover and reconsider as I had done countless times before.
When I stepped into the backroom to clock in, I was confronted by the sight of another team lead standing anxiously by the entrance. Water bottle in hand, he was shaking like a shell-shocked WWI veteran. Upon seeing me, his hand crushed the bottle, which burst instantly and splashed everyone in his near vicinity.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Jesus! I don’t know what happened! I was just tense, we have 4 call outs and I’m stressed and…”
Standing there, now soaked in water, I simply burst out laughing.
Like I needed any clearer omen than that. Yep, I was out of here.
I knew right then and there that the only way I would survive this shift was if I pretended that this was my last day.
A team member miscounted their cash?
Whateves! It’s my last day!
A team member forgot to lock the doors for closing?
Whateves! It’s my last day!
An armed robber threatened me at gunpoint?
Whateves! It’s my last day! Take the fucking safe while you’re at it! The password is 0123456. (NOTE: I really hope y’all have changed it by this point).
The night only got worse and worse from there. Angry guests. Managers forgetting to prep for floor moves. More rivalries. More bickering.
By the end of the night, as I was making the closing lead notes and counting out the safe, my manager approached me and asked if I was okay to close alone. I nodded, without even turning to face them as they left. My choice had been made.
With a handful of loyal friends waiting outside for me past their clock out times, I did a final walkthrough around the store. On my way out, I stopped by a sign placed over the checkout counter.
“This Register Is Closed”
I was reminded long ago of a sign showing promotional prices for a selection of Harry Potter wands. I grew to hate that sign, for its ambiguous pricing routinely confused guests, who would then explode at us whenever we informed them that the $20 wand price was ACTUALLY a buy one get one for $20 promo AND only for a select few wands. (Yes, it was for the worst wands).
I hated that sign with a passion, joking with one of my managers that the day I quit I would steal that sign with me to save my co-workers from further headaches.
But the wand promotion had ended months ago. And I was still here.
In lieu of the original wand sign, I grabbed the “closed register” sign and hid it under my jacket on my way out.
Having accumulated several sick hours that I knew wouldn’t be paid off if I quit, I called out of work for an entire week. I took this time to reconsider my decision, but at that point there really was no turning back. My “sick week” was soon gone, and I decisively emailed my management to simply tell them “I quit.”
I was out.
Free, for the next 2 months or so before my savings to run out. Free to focus my creative energies on Nitroglycerin Media. To focus on finishing 25 and to jumpstart what I hoped would become an ambitious and nurturing ecosystem for like minded creatives.
I was out.
Out of Universal. And for the first time in a long tie I had no idea what tomorrow would look like. It was liberating. It was terrifying. And it was done.
I was finally out.
I jumped ship with no lifeboat or plan. But out on my own terms.
After 20 months.
This Register Was Closed.
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