my colleagues bought me a farewell lunch yesterday. and my immediate boss (ex-boss) was rather curious what i'd be doing, what my plans are, where i'll be working la la la... and when i told him i have decided to relax and reflect, he didn't believe me. he probed. and i said, i want to rest and spent more time with my family, he wasn't convinced. and he asked if my family has a business that will be helping out... hmmmm. so i told him no, i'll be spending more time with my mum.
from the chain of questions that came fast and furious, i sensed one common response - one of disbelief that i will be taking my time to rest before looking for a job. and from my frequent exchanges with people in my ex-line of work, it seemed that there seemed to be a great apprehension when it comes to transiting and getting a new job. i supposed it is natural. especially when they have mouths to feed and commitments to take care of. for me, it is not that i do not have commitments, yes i do. but perhaps it is cos i do not have a wife and children to feed and that i can give myself the flexibility to take a longer rest. i mean, i have worked for the past quarter of a century. and now that i am moving on, i am sure i deserve a very good break and to self-indulge a little right?
well, the lunch was the normal rush rush type and where people at the table talked about work (admittedly, having been out of the system for 2 months, i felt a little out of sync). and so, the lunch ended quickly and my (ex) colleagues came to shake my hands, wished me well and rushed off back to work. in short, it was more of a working lunch. as we walked towards the car park, my colleagues told me in unison how they envied me and that they wished they could be in my shoes given the craze and the workload they were facing. and of cos, i responded by telling them that i also envied them especially when it comes to salary time. heh heh... oooo, how i hate such diplomatic talks.
the lunch was actually a non-event. for me, it was a get-it-over-and-done-with thing. i have not worked with many of them long enough to feel close to them. or rather, i know most of them as a group, but not as individuals. and so the closeness is more of herd camaraderie and not closeness at a more personal-level. or perhaps, less my programme co-ordinator for we use to go for tea-breaks together and becos we had both worked very closely given we were both programme co-ordinators at some point. and he, being my kopi buddy, had also shared with me his frustrations about work, management la la la and with whom i had sparred with many a times over work issues. there were of course a lot of work tensions with him, but these were professional issues and did not come in the way of our interactions (of cos, at times, when he got on my nerves, i really wanted to kill him)! after we parted, i received an sms from him.
i was surprised by the content of his sms. he told me that while he did not know how the rest of our colleagues felt abt the lunch, for him personally, he felt that being able to talk to me was the highlight and that he felt very good. in a way, it reflected how he was not able to work as well with the current colleagues. he also added that he would like to continue to keep in touch and to have coffees as and when time allows. the short message caught me a little offguard. far as i know him, he was not the type to sound personal. and so getting such a message from him was a surprise for me. it said a lot about him. and i supposed that was how he communicated his missing a buddy. and that was how most men (straight men) communicate. rather indirect. and would only show a bit of the softer side through means other than face-to-face.
anyway, i enjoyed the food.
:-)
from the chain of questions that came fast and furious, i sensed one common response - one of disbelief that i will be taking my time to rest before looking for a job. and from my frequent exchanges with people in my ex-line of work, it seemed that there seemed to be a great apprehension when it comes to transiting and getting a new job. i supposed it is natural. especially when they have mouths to feed and commitments to take care of. for me, it is not that i do not have commitments, yes i do. but perhaps it is cos i do not have a wife and children to feed and that i can give myself the flexibility to take a longer rest. i mean, i have worked for the past quarter of a century. and now that i am moving on, i am sure i deserve a very good break and to self-indulge a little right?
well, the lunch was the normal rush rush type and where people at the table talked about work (admittedly, having been out of the system for 2 months, i felt a little out of sync). and so, the lunch ended quickly and my (ex) colleagues came to shake my hands, wished me well and rushed off back to work. in short, it was more of a working lunch. as we walked towards the car park, my colleagues told me in unison how they envied me and that they wished they could be in my shoes given the craze and the workload they were facing. and of cos, i responded by telling them that i also envied them especially when it comes to salary time. heh heh... oooo, how i hate such diplomatic talks.
the lunch was actually a non-event. for me, it was a get-it-over-and-done-with thing. i have not worked with many of them long enough to feel close to them. or rather, i know most of them as a group, but not as individuals. and so the closeness is more of herd camaraderie and not closeness at a more personal-level. or perhaps, less my programme co-ordinator for we use to go for tea-breaks together and becos we had both worked very closely given we were both programme co-ordinators at some point. and he, being my kopi buddy, had also shared with me his frustrations about work, management la la la and with whom i had sparred with many a times over work issues. there were of course a lot of work tensions with him, but these were professional issues and did not come in the way of our interactions (of cos, at times, when he got on my nerves, i really wanted to kill him)! after we parted, i received an sms from him.
i was surprised by the content of his sms. he told me that while he did not know how the rest of our colleagues felt abt the lunch, for him personally, he felt that being able to talk to me was the highlight and that he felt very good. in a way, it reflected how he was not able to work as well with the current colleagues. he also added that he would like to continue to keep in touch and to have coffees as and when time allows. the short message caught me a little offguard. far as i know him, he was not the type to sound personal. and so getting such a message from him was a surprise for me. it said a lot about him. and i supposed that was how he communicated his missing a buddy. and that was how most men (straight men) communicate. rather indirect. and would only show a bit of the softer side through means other than face-to-face.
anyway, i enjoyed the food.
:-)
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