Many years ago I was on a contract and got a call on a Friday morning asking if I could be on the other side of the country by Monday. It would effectively doub

Many years ago I was on a contract and got a call on a Friday morning asking if I could be on the other side of the country by Monday. It would effectively double my rate and was a major career shift to work with which I had no experience, but wanted to be doing. I called the contracting agency, they called the customer. Customer came over to my desk, kinda gave me a hard time (somehow they expected me to become a lifer for them, even though I'd only been there about a month...) but when I said simply "look, this is a significant career opportunity for me" they backed off. That gig shaped the next 6 years of my career, so I wasn't kidding. About three years later the agency recruiter (who I thought we had been on friendly terms...) called me about another gig - she couldn't even remember that we had previously worked together! And, when I tried to refresh her memory she had no recollection of my leaving on short notice. Point is same as others in this forum: it's a business transaction. In a couple weeks you'll probably get another call from the contracting agency asking you if you want a gig, the government customer will probably already be moved on to a new developer, and if their schedule slips it is due to poor planning on their part. Obviously you don't want to make a habit of leaving on short notice or leaving customers in a bad spot, but if circumstances dictate it, you get at least one free pass per career ;-).