I went to the gym the other day, and as I was greeted by my friend at the desk, I just wasn’t feeling my usual spunk.
“What’s wrong?” she inquired. She could tell I was down.
“My good friend at work is leaving the company.”
This is a fairly universal experience. In a work environment, we make good friends and we share our ups and downs. We confide our personal issues, we vent about work frustrations, and we celebrate our victories. Together.
Over the course of a couple of years, this becomes a tight bond. In a small company, we begin to rely on each other for many things. We learn to predict the other’s next move, or expect what they will ask before they begin to speak.
Career trajectories are different for everyone, especially people of different ages and backgrounds who may work at the same company. Gone are the days of yore, when our grandparents, and even parents, would work for the same company, or at least at the same type of profession, for thirty years plus. My grandfather was a dermatologist. That’s it. My mother has practiced the same kind of law for over thirty years.
In our generation, we will change jobs many times. We will switch fields entirely, we will shift work schedules, work from home, work part time to raise families, work for ourselves. I don’t think I’ll ever receive a retirement party, or retirement gift. Those days are gone.
What becomes of these work friendships, work relationships, when the workplace is removed? I have had co-workers leave before, and each time I vow to keep in touch, to talk as frequently as before. But eventually, over time, as the other person moves on and gets busy with the next job and new projects, the conversation naturally wanes. I miss my old work friends. But I know when I need them, they will be a phone call away
“You’ve lose your P.I.C.,” my gym friend replied.
That was it. My Partner in Crime, the person who has seen it all from the trenches, from my perspective, the person who understands where I am coming from completely, and helps me when I need it most.
And now our paths diverge, and we each follow the curves of where life leads us next.
