The value of quitting

Reuben and I just finished walking. He made a left and went into the building, under the giant celebration banner and into the glass door. I, though, needed to get lunch. So, I walk a few more feet and walked into Nino's, the little deli we share a parking lot with.

I haven't been in this place since they changed owners, about two years ago, so I take in the look of the place. The left half looks like a small convince store, with chips and Smart water and the right half of the room is set up with blue and white tables and chairs. It is like a mini dinner attached to a corner store. Behind the counter is a woman who looks a little stressed, well dressed. She is probably the owner.

After a moment of composing herself, adjusting her large dangling earrings, she ask what I would like. I order reuben and fries, my test food for any deli, and she doesn't immediately write anything. The pen she picked up pauses and she hold up one finger, letting me know there might be a problem. She talks to a guy, maybe her son or little brother, who stands in front of the grill and frier and asks if he can make it. He says he can, but he needs to go in three minutes. The cook just walked out she confides in me.

I am sure she is thinking about the changes she will have to make in the schedule, I expect she wants me to feel bad for her. I do, but only briefly. What I quickly start thinking about is this faceless cook. I think about the phrase, "If you are going to fail, do it quickly.". I think about a newsletter I heard about on an old This American Life on quitting.

We live in a society which values loyalty and endurance. We like sticktoitiveness and pushing through against all odds. I love those things. I am slow to start something and very slow to give it up. The truth is, this is the worse way to be. When we hold onto something which is not working, we are not enjoy, that will not benefit us, we squander the life we have. The reason we celebrate those that win against all odds is most people fail.

Think for a moment about something you quit... got it? Ok. Did you quit at the right time? Would it have been better if you had quit sooner? Most people, by the time they quit, wish they had done it sooner. They want the time they wasted back. If you discover you don't like woodworking, quit buying tools. It is a waste of time and money; time and money you could use on something you do like, something you don't want to quit.

The reuben and fries come up while I am lost in thought about waste created by not quitting. I thinking about the abundance of opportunity now available to the cook. I'm thinking about how few things in my life I actually want to quit. I resolve to keep my eyes open, so I can get some of that opportunity for myself.

I grab the white container from under the cold heat lamp. I think the man who prepared it and the owner behind the counter. I grab a little ketchup and walk across the lot and into my building.