Gratitude overload

Well it’s the big day of gratitude, so let me pull up my big girl pantalettes and get to it.

This year, I’m devoting my Thanksgiving post to people, starting with my colleagues. I swear I have never come across such a group of people who are so collegial, generous, well-mannered, respectful and funny. I’ve told you about MG, who regularly passes on large swathes of her encyclopedic organizational and product knowledge so I can look good in meetings. But there are so many others.

I kinda get why JH, my manager, thought I’d be a good fit; our personalities are somewhat similar. But that JN, the VP, recognized my outlier status and yet still considered me the top candidate just leaves me gobsmacked. JN is not a cracker of jokes or a silly-thinker; he’s quiet, reserved and focused. Some day I’ll have to ask what our initial phone conversation sounded like from his end, because it’s just amazing to me that we could be so different and yet he’d want to carry on to hiring me. He regularly stops by my desk to ask how it’s going, answer questions, give encouragement; imagine that.

Ditto SJ, the SVP. She knows the names and faces of everyone in the business unit. All 400+ of them. She actively cares about our welfare—and also about running a very successful operation. I do not want to ever get on this woman’s bad side, but I love working for her. She is a leader.

My manager, JH, is responsive, patient, quick-witted and massively supportive. He also has good taste in whiskey and takes an excessive amount of ribbing from his team. He made sure that we all set up our quarterly goals in such a way that our incentive pay will not be affected—meaning, our goals are specific, measurable and achievable, but not aspirational. Also, there’s the whiskey discussion…

The entire management structure, BTW, is adamant that people take PTO, and they emphasize the TO part—you’re not meant to be checking or replying to emails while you’re on holiday. First time ever that an organization I work for has made a point of this.  

My colleagues are equally invested in our mutual success. TK, who’s handing off the big application that’s been throwing wobblies for the past couple of weeks, is one of the fastest talkers outside the old FedEx commercials. He’s made a point of telling people I’m the lead, but reminding me privately that he’s got my back. AK, with whom I’m working on a research project, is very deliberate, but damn, the boy can throw a punchline like Ali throws a punch.

Example: We all were on a team conference call. JH was getting some notifications on his mobile phone and they wouldn’t go away. He said something about not being able to swipe them gone and AK instantaneously intoned “Now, JH, I think we’ve all been on Tinder…” I like to wet myself.

I’m learning a lot from DB, whose CS background makes her hugely literate in the technical aspects of our products. She’s not many years out of university, yet she’s confident and poised managing calls with engineers and other stakeholders.

Beyond my immediate team, AS has walked me patiently through a lot of intel stuff; I wanted to hug him when I got an email wherein he used the comma of direct address. PA, in our Amsterdam office, introduced himself to me on a Teams chat when he let me know I hadn’t muted my mic. Since then, he and his colleague NS, have been leading the design/development charge on Brioche. I do not have the words to tell you how kind they are. Ditto EB, the engineering manager; this guy investigates problems in near-real time. He explains things patiently and I am honored to be able to provision internal users to my application if it takes some of the load off of him.

And here’s the thing—kindness in this org is not specific to me; everyone is kind to everyone else. I don’t know when I’ve heard so many thank yous—in emails, in meetings, in chats. People respect one another and appreciation flows like the Mississippi. It’s amazing. Even the very steamed SE guy was not mean when he ranted.

Moving out from work, all the people who helped and encouraged me in my hunt—lordy, too many to mention here, but I’ve posted about them. A lot of leads; a lot of support. Special shout-outs to CN, who instilled in me the #playingtowin mentality; BH, who reminded me “It’s not too late if you can still get up”; JD, who regularly goads me by asking, "What are you doing to have fun?"; and CA, who has seen me through so much, and who shot my badge photo for me. Also, my Twitter bros RF, who made the initial connections for the internal employee referral, and MW, who coached me through distilling what I want to do, advised me on salary negotiation and wrote the emails that got the hiring process started.

This list is so extraordinarily long; I have been blessed in this journey.

Beyond my immediate acquaintance, however, I’m grateful for all the people who work through holidays, in particular the guy who delivers the newspaper and the trash collectors; those guys are like Swiss watches. The woman who cleans the restrooms in my work building. She does a great job. Busboys at restaurants, who keep my water glass topped up. The barista who starts my decaf latte when I walk into the coffee shop. The landscapers who mow the grass, clean the gutters, blow and vacuum the leaves, and plow the snow. All these people doing their jobs professionally and often invisibly, making my life easier.

And finally—here’s to the public servants who also take their jobs seriously; judges, agency administrators, ambassadors. Right now they are the only things standing between democracy and the autocratic abyss into which Republicans would like to shove us all. May they be surrounded by the kinds of people I am, may they (as do I) draw strength and confidence from them, and may their integrity withstand the onslaughts coming from the right.

Happy Thanksgiving. Peace out.