Well that was interesting

I have spent the past two days in a total blur.

As of 12 PM yesterday, I was informed that my position was being eliminated and that my entire office was being let go except for one person. Definitely NOT how I had anticipated spending one of my last days at the office before vacation.

I came back to the office and stayed there, packing up my papers and shoes, my sweaters and artwork, until 6 PM. Everyone was dazed and utterly confused. As the word started to spread, calls and emails began pouring in. I thought that perhaps I should reach out to some faculty and staff that I worked with, so I started my own round of emails. Although the news was slightly less catastrophic for me, seeing that I am headed off to school in a month and a half, it was no less bittersweet. I was pleasantly surprised by the fervor, genuine gratitude and praise that started piling up in my inbox. Sad to think that it took this course of events to provoke such a demonstration of support for our office… now that it counts for nothing.

My co-workers had planned a potluck lunch today to celebrate my time at NEU, and to wish me luck in business school. After talking it over, we decided to go ahead with the lunch anyway. Instead of being MY farewell lunch, it turned into a farewell for everyone.

I showed up to work today late, in jeans and a T-shirt, with a tub full of chicken masala I’d made over the weekend. It was just the start of a very long, very odd, day. There was music. Friends stopped by. We laughed. We joked. We took pictures with over-exaggerated poses and facial gestures. We took a certain perverse pleasure in informing callers that our office didn’t exist anymore. We had a fantastic lunch, with lasagna, barbeque chicken, salad, naan, my afore-mentioned chicken masala, brownies, cake, iced tea, and lemonade. We signed off on all the HR paperwork. We turned in our keys. We traded final gossip back and forth. We said goodbye, one by one, and finally…. we left.