But September is gonna be awesome. The four weekends after Labor Day? Outdoor arts and crafts fairs!! Our little local one, market fair at Mount Vernon, one down in Occoquan on the river, and a big one in the artsy part of the county. Yes, I’m gonna go to ALL of them!

Yes, I am a middle aged white lady, and I am very excited about these.

That stupid “quiet quitting” thing is still bouncing around and it is still bugging me. Some columnist at WaPo chimed in on how it’s bad and a sign of disengagement, blah, blah. I think we’re dealing with a very unhealthy definition of engagement.

Look, when I switched departments, the change in workload was like night and day. And while there have been a couple stretches of too much to do, I’ve held pretty firm with just doing my job and doing it well, especially after the nonsense this past spring.

And I consider myself very engaged with my job. I like my work and I care that it’s done right. That is engagement. Am I really engaged with the company as a whole? Not really – I mean, they’re here to make money, they don’t particularly care about me, and I don’t really care about our core values and whatnot as long as they’re not “hurt and kill people.” I’ll just quietly get my job done, and that’s FINE.

And guess what? Putting the brakes on excessive hours hasn’t hurt the company. I hear rumblings that my cohorts on the other side of the world are overworked right now – but that is not really my problem. I don’t say that to be a jackass, but I am not responsible for handing out work assignments, and maybe they need to put their collective feet down. And honestly – I know from experience – no one notices if you’re working too much anyway, so don’t do it.

So, be a paycheck player! Act your wage! Work to the rule! Get a union!

And have a great day.