A group of us in the office were supposed to have lunch today with our fired colleague (see previous entry). We wanted to say goodbye and give her a small farewell party. But as they say, nothing is easy.
Our plan was to meet in a restaurant half way between her house and our office. Besides the core group of us, we suggested she give us a list of those she wanted to see. That way, we'd avoid inviting anyone she didn't want. (Remember that some took the "wrong side" in this issue.) The invitee list was created and people were invited in person. We didn't feel safe using company email to arrange this meeting. When management told us she had been fired, we were also told that we could not use company equipment to communicate with her. Since her firing, not one of us has even dared to use her name in an email. The saber rattling of management had its intended affect: all communication about the topic of this employee was shut down (at least by email).
Does the term "gulag" come to mind?
Each person who was invited was sworn to secrecy because, we explained, not everyone in the office had been invited. We didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings and we didn't want the boss to find out we were planning this little outing.
Shortly before we were to leave for lunch, our colleague called to say that she had to cancel. She was moving and had to wait for an estimator to arrive at her house. (He had had a last minute cancellation and was available to come to her house today.) She would, she said, see if she could drive to the office in the afternoon and say goodbye there. Only problem with this plan was that she's not allowed in the building any more and we couldn't be seen with her on company time. We would meet in the parking lot, we agreed.
Wait, is that thunder I hear?
We changed our plans yet again and met in a private conference center near our office. It would be neutral territory, no one would have to present a badge to get in, and most importantly, we wouldn't be recognized by anyone.
It was really quite amusing. Out the door we trooped...one with a pair of balloons, one with a gift, and another with a small bouquet of flowers. Anyone looking out their window could easily have guessed what we were planning to do...and on company time no less.
Off we went to the conference center, gifts in hand, to meet our colleague.
We found her sitting alone in a big overstuffed chair. She is tiny, and she looked a little lost sitting all alone. When she saw us, her face brightened and she threw her arms around each of us.
We settled into the comfortable chairs in the center and quizzed our friend about her plans. Only once did we refer to the "incident" that caused her to be fired. The quiet mouse turned raging tiger re-appeared, but only briefly. We quickly changed the subject and began to chat again about her future plans.
After a couple of hours, we packed up and said our goodbyes. I think we all felt good having planned this little clandestine operation, but how sad it was that we had to feel so nervous about being seen with our former colleague. All we wanted was the chance to say goodbye and to wish her well. We wanted to give her a hug and tell her how much we care about her. There was nothing complicated about it. It was sad that we had to hide and be fearful that we would be discovered. And what would they discover us doing? Being human? That was something management forgot all about when they fired our colleague.
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