I hate to attend farewells. You work with someone on several projects, start enjoying that the person hates his job as much as you do and suddenly come to know that the person has raced ahead by finding a better job.
The first farewell that I attended in my current office was of the guy who had recommended me to the organization. We worked together for couple weeks and then suddenly one day he came to me and said that he is leaving the organization tomorrow. I told him that he must have waited until he would have received money for recommending me to the organization. He told me I will not last enough in such a culture to make his eligible for the money. I wish if he was true.
Today I attended another farewell. The employee was a great resource and I enjoyed working with her. The various managers told her the same during the farewell. This is the worst part of the farewell. Every manager during the annual appraisal says you need to improve and when you are leaving they say we will miss you because you were among the best we ever had.
Although the managers told her and the staff the usual stuff, I felt quite emotional. I didn’t felt emotional because a good colleague was leaving but because I thought people saying the same things during my farewell. This was the scariest moment of my day. I am sure if people said such nice things about me during farewell, I might probably withdraw my resignation.
I attended the farewell and come back to my desk. I opened my outlook and found that the colleague leaving the organization had complied with the ritual of sending farewell message. Just like the speech given at her farewell, the email contained the usual stuff – I enjoyed working with you all, you all helped me improve, I will miss you all however you don’t need to miss me because here is my personal email id and mobile number blah blah etc etc.
I read her farewell email and thought what I will put in my farewell email. I decided I will write the usual stuff and then add in the postscript – I am sure you must have enjoyed reading this email as much as I have writing it although you wish it was you who was sending this email. Good bye.
To sum up
For me farewells in office are like marriage ceremonies. I am always standing in the crowd thinking – When can I have the snacks?
