Another Transition

After two glasses of wine and a beer I had enough wits to call it quits. If it’s true that spirits lift the spirits, I was flying high on Wednesday night. After-work cocktails, especially on an empty stomach, will have that effect.

An acquaintance's job had fallen victim to a push by her employer toward geographic consolidation. Text-messaging, videoconferencing, wireless networking, and mobile phones weren’t sufficient, they said, she had to be physically present at the home office. So 20th century.

Friends and colleagues stopped by to wish her well. Living in Seattle, and with her background in credit and corporate workouts, she shouldn’t have trouble finding employment. But most of our conversations were about the past, the good times that were shared, the problems that were overcome, and the people that are gone. That’s one definition of middle age---where one looks backward as much as one looks forward---and lately I’m finding that my gaze has been fixed more and more upon the past.

I gave her a hug and promised to keep in touch. In the 21st century that’s not hard to do. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

From the Caltrain station that evening: the AT&T ballpark is one block away.