FINALLY, it’s down to the final weeks of Supreme Leader’s time with the department.
After several false alarms over the past three years, this time it’s for real. The initial disbelief and panic that hit me has now turned into acceptance that it’s time for him to go. As he rightly puts it, we should be happy that he will soon be liberated.
But in reality, I don’t think anyone of us is truly happy for him. For selfish reasons, we want him to stay. I remember a colleague once suggested that we hijack his resignation letter and burn it before it reached Big Boss. It doesn’t matter that Supreme Leader can be difficult to work with when he is in a cranky mood and would do or say things that are beyond our comprehension. He is afterall a good boss who goes out of his way to protect our interests.
It is particularly difficult for me because I’ve worked the longest time with Supreme Leader. And he’s the only boss I’ve had in my entire career whom I consider a friend as well. He is one of the rare few in civil service who can deal with my frankness. As long as I dare to ask, he will answer me – whether it’s work or personal issues. I appreciate his candidness and trust in me. In fact, I sometimes find that he has become so candid that he doesn’t even bother to tell me white lies. Ouch!
We have our fair share of ups and downs. On a good day, we are great pals who can talk about anything and everything. But on a bad day, we keep each other at arm’s length. You see, familarity sometimes breeds tensions. We tend to jump to conclusion, thinking that we know what the other wants to say but actually we don’t. That’s when we feel like strangling each other. Supreme Leader once said that if anyone was capable of driving him to his grave, it’s got to be me. What he didn’t know was that he’s the only one who could make me so angry that I would lose sleep at night.
Alas, our bickering days are numbered and I swear I will be as nice and sweet to Supreme Leader as I can possibly be. I promise not to remind him that he is fat or to tell him that his new orange shoes look like neon lights from afar. I’m not sure if we will be able to work together again. But one thing which I’m certain about is that from Jan 2010, I will avoid walking past what used to be Supreme Leader’s office because I will be very sad to see the room being occupied by someone else.
Posted on December 20, 2009
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