Saturday, November 10, 2018

Parting colleague and social awkwardness

I'm not sure why I end up installing an operating system update before I blog, but I did just that last night. The update took longer than I had anticipated. I decided to skip blogging.

Friday was an interesting day. It was my colleague's last day with the company.

My team isn't the best in organizing a decent farewell for a fellow colleague. I tend to do it because I care. I got the greeting card. I collected money from everyone to get a parting gift and got it. I handed over our gift to her and made a quick speech.

My manager is horrible at saying something heartfelt. It comes out socially awkward. I asked him to sign the card. He asked me if I could write something for him. Um, no. It needs to come from the heart, unless he doesn't have one.

He did eventually write something. My colleague and I talked before she exited, stage left. She let me read what he had written. It was standard. Nothing special. It's the effort that counts, I suppose.

She clued in that I put everything together. She thanked me a ton of times and asked if she could hug me. So, we did. It was cool.

I'm thrilled that she has found a new career opportunity. It's just sad to see a decent, competent colleague go.

2 comments:

  1. Yes the best ones always seem to leave. I have the same situation in my work right now. Still, I am happy for her to leave a place behind her that she clearly doesn't like. I miss her though.

    Han

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it's good to be supportive. I have seen so many decent folks leave. I miss them, too. Luckily, I still keep in touch with many of them, which makes things a bit easier.

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