Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Blog soundtrack (Gawd, I love this song; I SO loved the 80s, and I’m proud of that fact!)

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Yes, I am a card-carrying member of the 80s, okay? :-)

So, most everyone is familiar with the 80s sitcom “Cheers”; hence, the title for this blog.
Okay, maybe we’re all too familiar with it and its theme song.
And while being in a place where everybody knows your name may be “trite”, in reality, it can be very comforting.

As most of you know, I lost my job in February.
When gainfully employed, I had rallied a bunch of people to run most every day at work.
So, each day, I’d send out the “running email”, which only said in the subject header “Running?”.

The day I got laid off, my fellow runners encouraged me to run.
I didn’t want to, but a few of them said, “You should run to show them.”
I didn’t know what I was showing them, but in a way, I knew what they meant.
I didn’t blame the company at all for outsourcing my job.
I loved the company and all its people. I knew they had to do what they did to survive the economy.

When I left, I told them I’d come back to run with them.
When I said that, I thought most of them thought, “Oh, sure you will.”
BUT since then, I have gone back many times to run.

The first few times I went back to run, I’d be out on the running route and see fellow employees walking or running, and when they saw me, the first thing they would do was smile.
Some of these people I had never known by name, but it seemed upon first glance, they thought “Hey, she got laid off!” and then upon second glance they thought, “Wow, the company had to let her go, but here she is, coming back to the company that let her go!”

I heard a story about one woman who got laid off and could not contact the people she worked with after she got laid off. I don’t know if that’s still true, but at least for the short while after she got laid off, it was. Her mileage may vary, but I could NOT imagine not seeing any of my co-workers again.
Never.

So, today was one of those days I went back to run.

Usually when I enter the lobby, Barbara, the receptionist is there, or Joe, the security guard.
If it’s Barbara, she greets me with a joyous “Hey, kiddo!”
I LOVE being a kiddo at 47!
And, when I saw Joe yesterday, the instant I walked in, he raised his hand, waiting for me to give him my car keys to hold on to.
It’s good to be where everyone knows you, even if you’re not technically known there anymore.

One person said to me recently, “Jeez, it’s like you’re the red stapler guy from Office Space. You keep showing up there, and they’re not paying you!’
While that might be somewhat true, I love showing up there, because it was not a job I lost.
I really felt like I lost a lovely bunch of people.

I do love it though when I see people at work who are still employed, and they ask me if I have a job.
Their voice lowers to a whisper, as if they’re about to ask me “Jean, briefs or boxers?” :-)
Today, I saw one of the engineering managers, who I always adored, right before my run.
He said, “Come here!” and motioned me toward him.
I had to think about it, and I said, “Me?”
I looked behind me to make sure he didn’t mean someone else.
But, no, he meant me.

At first, I felt like saying, “Hey, I don’t write the release notes anymore; it’s so not my fault!” :-)
I went over to him, and he told me about a job opportunity, and then he said he had a friend at the company where the job opportunity was.
It’s good to have friends like him…truly, it is.

Anyway, today I ran with the crowd, and then I showered in the locker room.
I then sneaked, though I had a “Visitor” badge, off to the area where the tech writers sit.
I asked if I could “rent” a cube.
In my defense, I did bring payment, a batch of cookies.
They were well received, I think.
Um, well, except when my former boss came over to “my cube” with one of my cookies in his hand and while shaking it called me “evil”. :-)

I find it hard to write at home sometimes, well, most times.
There are too many distractions.
“Oh, I should put in a load of laundry.”
“OMG, it’s a CSI marathon!”
“Um, let me go kiss Liam and rub his tummy once more.”
Do you people see what I’m up against here? :-)

So, today, I sat in a cube at “work” for about three hours.
While there, I wrote to my favorite engineer, and then he responded “This is cool talking to you from your cube downstairs.”
Believe me, it was so cool being there surrounded by all of my friends.
I suppose I could have taken my laptop and gone to the library, but being in that cube surrounded by those people who make all the difference in the world to me, well, it was that much and more.

While there, I wrote a letter to the editors of a large local newspaper.
I pitched a column called “It Takes Every Kind of People” based on the Robert Palmer song.

K, change in blog soundtrack, play this now! :-)



I pointed them to my Brandy blog, my award, and all those other writing credentials.
Brenda reviewed it, suggested changes, and then I hit “Send”. Thank you, Brenda. <3
Who knows what may happen or not.
The absolutely best thing about today was about being in a place where everybody knows my name.
Trite but so true.