Karoline Leavitt gives up!

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has announced she is leaving her position to “Spend more time” with her family.

That’s noble. It’s also the most cliched reason for leaving a job of all of them. What we need is a rule telling people the real reason. Or at least trying.

Criminals abandon their felonious efforts to “spend more time with the family, “the family” cited being an organized crime family.

“I’m leaving this position to spend more time with reality,” could be a good one.

“I’m leaving this position because I don’t fancy going to prison when the president’s term is finally over.”

“I’m leaving this position because, despite my connection to modern politics, I have decided I don’t actually enjoy lying through my lovely TV-appropriate teeth!”

Because Donald J. Trump is destined to have lots of press secretaries in his future (It’s a good platform for diving into the real money as a “communications specialist” for someplace that does something it thinks everyone should know about (A Big Corporation) or someplace that doesn’t want anybody to know what it’s doing. (A Big Corporation.)

So, a good reason could be, “Because I’m going for the real dollars!” That’s something most of America could understand and accept.

“Of course she is,” the nation would respond in unison. “Would that we could do that, too!”

Another good one:

“This goddamn ship is sinking and I’ll be damned if I’m going down with it, too!”

And this...

“I would rather fry burgers at a fast-food dive on a major turnpike than spend another minute up here in front of a pack of barracudas disguised as reporters.”

Or you could say, “I want to spend more time helping my family make arrangements to bring in some help while I’m out doing something else!’

That would be honest.

I have quit jobs lots of times, usually to get better jobs. That always worked for me. I never once said “I need to spend more time with my family.”

And I have never had an employer tell me, “You need to spend more time with your family!”

Mostly I said, “I’m leaving because I need to spend more time at a better job.”

Mostly they said, “We’re closing. Your job has disappeared.”

The one thing you don’t want to tell your mate and your kids is, “I’m leaving to spend more time with my career.”

That might mean you lose the family you are going to need in the future to say, “I need to spend more time with my family.”

Charlie Madigan was a reporter and editor for 40 years at United Press International and The Chicago Tribune. He has gone both ways on the “leaving job...leaving family thing,” but fortunately, the latter never worked. He lives in Evanston and writes the “Lightningwriter” blog. Find him at Charlesmadigan.com. Reach him at Charlesmadigan@gmail.com.