The last most difficult goodbye I said is still the one I said at my former office of employment in Kalamassery. I don’t miss the company or their corporate structure or the upper management or their hypocritical behaviour. I miss my old teammembers and some of the other colleagues. We had a good working atmosphere that was not because of the company’s involvement but rather despite it! I still miss a lot of those guys & gals and I wish I could spend more time with them or if we could all work in the same organization some time again.
My team, which once was as large as 10 plus me, was 6 plus me by the time I left. And that’s because when a couple of people left the organization for better opportunities & in one case due to marriage, cost cutting at the firm meant that I couldn’t replace them yet the organization wanted the same work + a whole pile of shit more stuff to be done with lesser people. And – wait for it – they feign ignorance & selective amnesia when it comes to proper remuneration. I have seen first hand how the organization cheats employees of due raised and benefits just so that pampered asshole VPs, GMS & DGMs can still get company sponsored stays in the finest hotels, eat expensive meals, travel to and fro in the latest cars as taxis and only travel first class by airplane. I’ve seen them do meetings/discussion on how to cut costs – not by sitting in the office board room and ordering food from the cafeteria, oh no not them! Instead, they get a couple of taxis, hire a small hall in a 3 star hotel with all amenities, snacks, drinks and then a big buffet lunch!
I miss the real people in my office. I miss the morning coffee banter. I miss the gossip at lunch and evening tea. I miss the little games we played. I miss the jokes and ribbing we do in good fun. I miss the team spirit and the happiness at achieving something within the team and outside. I miss planning outings with the team for lunch. I miss the natural camaraderie we had. I miss going for pizza on the way home or stopping for coffee. I miss the people. Damn I miss them! My farewell party, was very touching for me, tears in my eyes and tears in the eyes of members of my team, a lot of surprise at what people said in way of praise about me and the gifts I got. I remember being so lost & lonely that evening when I came back home.
It’s always difficult to say goodbye to people we are truly fond of, or love. My last difficult goodbye was to my friend Jules when she moved to England. It almost killed me to let her go. I think I will always miss her!