farewell chuck

the last day i'd see my boss in a long, long time.

my first boss, a true to the sign gemini, he always managed to keep me on my toes.

surprise-graduation-partythrowing boss

can-drive-me-up-the-wall boss

Jimmy-Hendrix-posters-in-his-office boss

part-time-tattoo-artist boss

anti-bush-t-shirt-printing boss

amateur-boxer-and-cross-country-biking boss

definitely-one-of-a-kind boss!

there were times when he would be so good to me that i'd just want to give him one big kiss (no, never did so) and then there were times he would so thoroughly succeed in making me feel so miserable and dumb that i would just walk out and bury myself in books at the boosktore downstairs.

at times he'd cut me off mid-sentence, so curt and so overbearing, telling me he didn't care what i thought. other times he would come to my cube and ask me for my opinion on the latest wireless laptops we should order or about the eccentricities of his current girlfriend. damn, i remember the one time he filled me in on his plans for valentine's day. "a suite at a bed and breakfast by the mountains, plenty of candles and rose petals on the bed and doing the things adults do", he said pointing to huge bags filled with the rose petals he had pre-ordered and just picked up from the local florist's. just a little bit more information than i needed but what the heck. it sounded really good and now i knew just what to ask my non-existant boy-firend for next valentine's day. when i first started and was apprehensive of doing anything at all beyond what I was there to do, he would download songs of metallica, fiona apple and others and make me CDs from them.

just before graduation day about a year ago, he had developed stress fractures on his foot (very active guy, he) and had to wear a cast. it was painful for him to walk around and for others to watch him walk. even so, as i later found out, he had bought a card, walked about the entire office (which spans a whole block) and gotten it signed by every single person. and then, the afternoon of the day i was to graduate, he radioed me asking me for help with something in the big boardroom. when i walked into the office i saw what seemed to be everybody and a huge cake on the table with a graduation scroll and huge balloons tied to it. it took me a moment to realize my name was written on it and that this was a SURPRISE GRADUATION PARTY for me!!! i have never, ever, had so pleasant a surprise :-) he had convinced everyone to chip in and buy me a leather portoflio case which never fails to make me smile. and he told everybody how proud he was of me. ohh how i smiled, i didn't even mind them calling me the baby of the team anymore.

aah what a love-hate relationship I have had with this man.

as he said his goodbyes and thanked me for all my hardwork i would be lying if i denied a faint tugging at my heartstrings. and long after he had hugged me and left, I could still smell the faint whiff of his perfume on me. when things got ugly (irate end-users expecting miracles) I always sought refuge in him and his seniority. and he was always on my side. i shall miss him.

i wish i could have thrown him a surprise farewell party. but things being the way they are, i couldn't. and i will always regret it.

good-bye and plenty of good luck to you chuck. hope u have tones of fun in Thailand, may all you dreams come true and may the adventurous spirit of yours (that has many a time inspired to look beyond my boundaries for the new and exciting) never wane.

current song Sound Of Silence by Paul Simon (sure is silent without the sound of metal blaring out of his office)