3/28/24 Cake And A Handshake?

    I don't know if there is a better way to leave a place, but cake and a handshake seems to be it.  Yesterday, our senior chemist left for a new job at another company.  He had been looking for some time, was not happy with the environment at our workplace, and because of that, I wish him the best.  I guess he is a bit younger than me, he still believes in climbing the corporate ladder and was looking for a promotion to some sort of manager.  I get the want to get ahead, I once felt more like that, but I guess I have accepted my role and am not looking for big changes to my routine.  I wish I made a little more money, but other than that, I get to roll into work whenever I feel like it, usually between 11:00 am and noon, I don't have to get up with an alarm, which I always hated (probably the worst thing for everybody), and I like the people that I work with, the thought of having to prove myself to a new group just sucks the life out of me.

    It felt a little infuriating yesterday, it being his last day, he was actually relaxed and joking around a bit.  I had not seen this side of this dude, he was sitting with the other chemist, my old weight lifting buddy, he and I are the last two of the group still doing the job, but the guy leaving was teaching him a few tips on the tool, and all I could think was "goddamn it, you could have been doing shit like this all along."  The guy came across as a bit standoffish, maybe it was more that he was shy or very reserved, but I could not make small talk with him.  When he did talk, he had such a soft voice, I couldn't make out but about half of what he said, kind of like my father in law, who I love, but the man has such a low and soft voice, I always have a hard time making out what he is saying.  I usually just smile along with the conversation and try not to get into too much detail, with either of them because of this.  But yesterday I realized we could have learned from this guy if he had been a little more animated.  Oh well, we will carry on.

    The cake and handshake was a little weird too.  Like I say, I come in most of the time around noon, I rarely socialize with the group as a whole, so to be in the break room with what is left of the group felt a little uncomfortable, but then again, one can see we are becoming less and less, there were less than 10 people in the room.  Our manager came in, and he is cool enough to be "one of us", which is why I like him, but our CEO and other management types did not bother coming around, which I thought was a bit shitty.  I remember my cake and a handshake, when I left the fab and came over to the lab, about 22 years ago, most of the fab people came out to the lunch room, that was a bigger group of maybe 20-30 people (the group of people was bigger), they came mostly for the free pizza and cake, but still, it feels nice to get a send off.

    Our manager sent us a text in the evening, he was setting a new text group, removing him from the group, and giving us a few words of encouragement that we have been kicking ass given our being short handed.  I told him we will be much less able once he leaves, he had turned in his two week notice, but gladly, he said he was not leaving, he was going to stick around and see us through these changes coming around.  In the next few weeks, the lab is getting new hoods, which starts this week, new tools, and with people leaving, new people.  In a moment of unity, he sent a Youtube video of REO Speedwagon's Roll With The Changes, which seemed appropriate for the moment.  It is all we can do.