Do You Ever Miss Your Old Manager?

Sometimes I reminisce about my days at said corporation.  Honestly, I made some wonderful friends there.  In fact, I found myself surrounded in a lot of like-minded people who were successful enough in their own minds that my confident, outspoken nature didn't intimidate them as it has many past co-workers. In fact, they liked it, were humored by it and loved my light-hearted satire.  Most often they joined in.  It was a wonderful crowd. We had some great times and kept each other going on the illusory corporate hamster wheel of fortune. 

At one point we named our unit 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest' and gave each of us a character in the movie.  We had a good time with that for a while. Now and then we'd all get together after a meeting and just get stoned drunk and have some laughs.  One night we all partied at the beach house owned by a gentleman in our unit.  We had a lovely dinner, drank wine, had a few shots of tequila and God knows what else.  We ended up flopped out on the floor in front of the fire, all 5 or 6 of us, out cold until morning.  It was like being back in high school.  Yes, we had some great times. 

Today, a few of the same folks still work at the same company.  I hear the going is really rough and the management has become utterly intolerable in their inhumane expectations of 'corporate compliance.'  Following the business model, to the T, is not the goal, it is the requirement; even if it is ridiculously unattainable. 

If I think of the moments I didn't like while at said company, I would say that being hammered to perform beyond human ability is one that stands out the most.  The second would be the chilly, sideways glances if you dared to challenge the program with yet possibly a better solution.  If I didn't know better, I would swear that upper management had the ability to do the reptilian shapeshift routine but rather than shift into lizards they would evolve into porcupines, quills standing at attention, threatening to puncture your body with a hundred painful barbs if you so much as breathed anything but the scent of greenbacks coming in the door.


Those are the memories I prefer to leave behind while keeping all the friendships I made in the forefront. Something good comes from every experience in life no matter how bad things may look at the time. 

Today as I was walking my dog through the park and watching her chase squirrels, I glanced up through the massive evergreens and felt my heart swim in warmth.  The birds were singing and the autumn leaves were swirling through the air as they cascaded to the ground.  I was truly at peace and content; so appreciative of the afternoons I am able to spend in the park, so thankful for my fun-loving dog and utterly pleased to be breathing the spicy fall air!  But honestly, what I am most thankful for these days, is that getting up in the morning is for the purpose of living MY life, not stuffing the pockets of some talking head CEO and all of his greedy VP pricks! 

Tune in tomorrow and I'll tell ya how I REALLY feel!