It Was A Bitter-Sweet Day I Will Remember Forever
My last day with the best team I ever worked with
This is part of a bigger piece, one day of my challenging week and what the week taught me.
The morning was as usual. I walked the dogs, packed my stuff in preparation for the evening’s drive home and left for work.
While in the office, I joined my last work meetings and felt mixed emotions, a cocktail of sadness and gratitude. I was sad to be leaving this wonderful workspace, but I also felt enormous gratitude for various reasons, including that my change of work circumstances wouldn’t affect other parts of my life.
This Thursday was also the last day for one of my work colleagues. Unfortunately, she had to leave the country, and there was a lot of pain. Seeing the tears flowing down her cheeks made my blood freeze, and my heart stop. I could feel her pain… Though it was more than 15 years ago when I was petrified not to lose my job, as I preferred to be dead than go back where I came from, all the emotions came back as if it was only yesterday… We talked for a while, and I was slightly relieved when I heard that there was a chance she might come back to Australia, which would be her dream.
There are no words to describe the gratitude I felt in that situation. Only a person who faced these struggles and the petrifying fear of being sent back will ever understand. I was thankful that my stay in this country no longer depended on my work. I was also grateful for all the beautiful experiences I had in that place and the opportunity to work with such amazing people. This was the best team I ever worked with. So many people came to me, saying they would miss me and hoping we would stay in touch. And I hope so, too. So, I’m not sad because it is over, but grateful because it has happened.
It was just after lunch when the architect who would take over my projects (that were almost finished) came to me and said, “Thank you for such a great handover. After what they did to you, you could just let it be and don’t do any handover, yet you gave me so much information. I truly appreciate it!”
“They didn’t do anything to me.” — I replied in a warm, peaceful voice and continued — “The structure of the organization changed, and it is time for me to move on. But even if they treated me unfairly, why should I make your life difficult? You don’t have anything to do with this.” — I smiled, and after a short pause, I added, “And anyway, I want them to see what they lost, not give them a confirmation they were right to get rid of me” — I laughed
“Yes, you are right. It’s not worth making enemies and burning bridges. It’s a small place, and our paths might cross again. It’s better to leave on good terms.” — he replied, and I would be happy to work again with him or any person from this organization.
The time was passing so fast. It was 3 pm, and I had a catch-up with an organization I could potentially have my next contract with. It was my second meeting with this company, but this time with a different department. I was a bit wary that I could be too tired or emotionally drained and not perform to my best abilities. Therefore, I did what I always do — be honest about my situation. At the beginning of the meeting, I clarified my situation, saying it was my last day at the given organization, it was a big day, and I felt tired. The individuals in the meeting were very understanding and friendly. To my surprise, the meeting went better than expected, and, well over time, there was so much we could discuss. They were impressed with my knowledge in the given area — oh well, I had six years of experience in this industry with various organizations, so I knew quite a bit. I was happy with the way the meeting went.
After it finished, I went back to my desk. The most emotional part of the day, however, was the catch-up with one of the ICT bosses who gave me the contract in the first place. It was already 5 pm when she came to my desk.
“I was worried you would be gone by now, and I wanted to catch you before you leave” — Anne said with a smile.
“I was waiting for you, hoping I could say thank you for everything you did for me. I have something for you,” — I replied, handing her a box of special chocolates and a thank-you card
“May I read it now?” — she asked with a curious smile
“Surely!” — I replied, smiling, and waited for her to finish reading
“Thank you for your kind words”, — she said, keeping her composure, but I could see my words touched her
“Thank you for believing in me and giving me this great opportunity” — I replied
“You make it easy to believe in you. And thank you for all the hard work you did here, your enthusiasm, perseverance and everything.” — she said, and after a short pause, she added with a warmth in her voice, “May I give you a hug?”
“Yes, of course,” I responded, and we hugged, saying we would stay in touch. I look forward to catching up with Anne in a couple of months and telling her about my new adventures.
When Anne left, I sent the email I had drafted the previous morning, and I left the office with a heart filled with gratitude, fulfilment and happiness. Yes, there was a dash of sadness as I loved this place and the people here, and it was sad to leave, but… This wasn’t goodbye; it was just ‘see ya later’ and thank you for the amazing time we had together.
It was around 8 pm when I parked my car at Tom’s home. I felt tired and unable to drive back to the farm that night. I walked into the house. George was sitting on the couch watching TV, almost ready for the drive home.
“I was wondering if we have to leave tonight or we could stay till tomorrow?” — I asked him, and seeing his unhappy face, I quickly added “We could go out for dinner tonight, and I pay for it.”
George wasn’t impressed by this proposal, saying he would prefer to know it earlier, and even suggested he could drive, but eventually, he realised that it wasn’t a good idea. Packaging the animals and the car would take at least an hour, and we wouldn’t be home before midnight.
We went to Subway as I believed this would be the quickest option. Pizza would be all right, too, but it takes about 20 min from order to pick-up. I walked into the shop, happy that nobody was there.
“Just a moment,” said the shop assistant, who was busy preparing some subs. A few minutes later, he came back to me.
“I’m sorry for the wait; we are just very busy tonight. What can I get for you?” — he asked me.
“No problem” — I replied and placed my order.
Before he even started preparing my sub, the phone rang and… “I’ll be right back with you” — said the young man and disappeared at the back of the shop. A few minutes later, he returned, put my order on the side and started preparing other sandwiches.
“Aren’t you continuing with my order?” — I asked, surprised.
“Not now. First, I need to complete the other orders we got,” — replied the salesman.
“Does it mean that you prioritise the online orders?” — I asked, surprised and slightly impatient.
“Ugh… they were placed already half an hour ago… It won’t take long. About 10 min, and I should be back to your order,” — replied the fellow.
“Maybe I should have placed my order online; you could have told me that. I have been waiting for a while here already,” — I said, visibly irritated..
“If you like, you can leave. I can’t force you to stay here,” — replied the man while continuing with the other order.
“I need something for dinner, and I don’t feel like going for another search, and most probably the same will happen… So, can you tell me how long it will take you to get to my order finally? 10 minutes?” — I asked in a bit calmer voice.
“I’ll do my best to be with you as soon as I can. Should be less than 10min,” — he responded.
“Okay, I just go to the car and let my friend, who is waiting there for me, know it is taking a bit longer. I’ll be back soon,” — I said and, frustrated, walked to the car. “I should have gotten the pizza; it would be less stressful”, — I thought to myself.
When I returned to the shop, I saw the fellow literary running and juggling a few orders to get on top of his work. Somehow, I started to feel sorry for this young gentleman. He was just working there, in this understaffed shop, doing his best while unhappy customers, like myself, complained and whinged he was too slow. And his boss, instead of employing more people, probably puts him under even more pressure.
It took less than 10 minutes, and my order was ready.
“Thank you so much for your patience” — said the salesman.
“I’m sorry, I lost my patience before. I had a long day and a difficult week, and now I’m too tired to drive home, so I have to stay in town overnight. But that’s not your fault, and I see you are doing your best, so I’m sorry for losing my patience, and thank you for your understanding,” — I replied, smiling, and he smiled back at me.
We came home and ate the sandwich. It was about 10 pm when I crashed on my bed and drifted into the dream world.
And here are couple of articles from Reciprocal I enjoyed reading this week.
Kerrie Gutierrez-Diaz takes us on a lovely walk with her dog, in a forest
Duncan Klein takes us for an enjoyable day-trip in Tampere, Finland. She also beautifully introduced article of three other writers, and I thought her summary of the other articles was great!
