It was the week after the latest secret office party. The boss wanted to give us an announcement and he planned to do it with a department lunch. A few days before this announcement, there was a lot of buzzing going around the office. There were many meetings and closed door discussions taking place. I sensed that there was something wrong with the mood around the office but I didn't know what it was. The boss's calendar showed that he was meeting a few people for lunch separately. Lots of people were curious about the upcoming announcement. There was even speculation that he just wanted to celebrate his birthday with us but I ruled that out because he was the sort of person who didn't like attention. Some people appeared to know what it was but didn't want to share. "Just wait for the lunch and we'll soon know what it's all about", declared someone who didn't care what was going on. She didn't think it was anything serious.
The day and moment finally arrived. Minutes before the gathering, I had seen him pacing up and down the office nervously. Something wasn't right. We gathered at the staff lounge and waited. There was a huge birthday cake in the middle of the room with the words "Happy Birthday BOSS" on it. Something told me that the cake wasn't part of the announcement. The boss appeared surprised and touched when he saw the cake. As we sang him a birthday song, I felt the uncomfortable mood in the air. He thanked everyone with a shaky voice and began his awkward and strange presentation. That was so unlike of him. His voice appeared shaky and cracking. He showed us a slide with some words all jumbled up and told us about how the brain is still able to interpret jumbled words after some try. Then he spoke about mountains and how fascinated he was about them. He told all of us that we all have our own mountains to climb and we should all find our own mountains to climb if we didn't have one. I wasn't sure what he was getting at. All through the years that we have worked with him, he was known for talking in codes and analogies to us. He was never direct. Most of the time, we could never quite figure out what he was saying because they were always ambiguous. At the end of the presentation, he finally dropped the bomb. He was leaving us and Mr. Suck-the-boss's-ass has been promoted to be his successor. The room was heavy with silence. At that moment, we just simply froze. He tried to sound cheerful as he quickly changed the subject that we should all began our lunch but nobody moved. He seemed surprised that we were surprised. He assumed that everyone already knew about his plans to leave.
Finally but slowly, some of us started heading toward the buffet table. Some people started to approach him. There were people who broke down to cry. I walked toward the buffet queue in a trance. I couldn't believe what just happened. So that explained the buzzing and the many closed door meetings. How on earth did Mr. Suck-the-boss's-ass get promoted? He is one of the members of the group that partied whenever the boss was out of the office. He seemed like a slimy guy. Can we trust him? Will he be a fair boss? His gang was of course happy for him. They've got one of their own who will be sitting at the top. He will be the guy who will determine our bonuses, salary increments and happiness with this work environment. I hope that he doesn't comprise his management role with his personal friendship toward his gang. I really hope he will play fair and not show any favoritism.
The week had too many surprises. Just too many for me to accept.
The day and moment finally arrived. Minutes before the gathering, I had seen him pacing up and down the office nervously. Something wasn't right. We gathered at the staff lounge and waited. There was a huge birthday cake in the middle of the room with the words "Happy Birthday BOSS" on it. Something told me that the cake wasn't part of the announcement. The boss appeared surprised and touched when he saw the cake. As we sang him a birthday song, I felt the uncomfortable mood in the air. He thanked everyone with a shaky voice and began his awkward and strange presentation. That was so unlike of him. His voice appeared shaky and cracking. He showed us a slide with some words all jumbled up and told us about how the brain is still able to interpret jumbled words after some try. Then he spoke about mountains and how fascinated he was about them. He told all of us that we all have our own mountains to climb and we should all find our own mountains to climb if we didn't have one. I wasn't sure what he was getting at. All through the years that we have worked with him, he was known for talking in codes and analogies to us. He was never direct. Most of the time, we could never quite figure out what he was saying because they were always ambiguous. At the end of the presentation, he finally dropped the bomb. He was leaving us and Mr. Suck-the-boss's-ass has been promoted to be his successor. The room was heavy with silence. At that moment, we just simply froze. He tried to sound cheerful as he quickly changed the subject that we should all began our lunch but nobody moved. He seemed surprised that we were surprised. He assumed that everyone already knew about his plans to leave.
Finally but slowly, some of us started heading toward the buffet table. Some people started to approach him. There were people who broke down to cry. I walked toward the buffet queue in a trance. I couldn't believe what just happened. So that explained the buzzing and the many closed door meetings. How on earth did Mr. Suck-the-boss's-ass get promoted? He is one of the members of the group that partied whenever the boss was out of the office. He seemed like a slimy guy. Can we trust him? Will he be a fair boss? His gang was of course happy for him. They've got one of their own who will be sitting at the top. He will be the guy who will determine our bonuses, salary increments and happiness with this work environment. I hope that he doesn't comprise his management role with his personal friendship toward his gang. I really hope he will play fair and not show any favoritism.
The week had too many surprises. Just too many for me to accept.
