To all the folks I’ve worked with before..

There once was a dilapidated building, a stone throw away from the busy street of Pasong Tamo. It had stood there for 30 quiet years and stuck like a sore thumb amidst the newer structures that mushroomed through the years.

The place was a safety engineer’s nightmare. Fire exits in the wrong places, electric wires dangling from the ceiling, trip hazards from all corners.

I spent the first few months of my return to the company on this old building and God knows how I wanted to shun the place.

Last year the building finally had to be dismantled and our company sought a new home amidst the sprawling Bonifacio Global city.

My office now has a commanding view of the Taguig skyline.

The lobby is elegantly marbled, floors are carpeted, glass doors are machine-activated.

It was a dream come true.

But somehow despite the classy corporate feel, going to the office no longer feels as exciting.

And then like a jolt, I had a realization.

You know how it is in life. You go through the same routine thinking each day was the same as the last. What you don’t realize are the small unobtrusive changes that happen along the way.

Until one day you wake up and realize that things were no longer the same.

I miss my friends and co-workers. The ones who gave the human touch to my work.

I realized it was not the number of audits I’ve done, or the number of findings I’ve closed or the number the business metrics I’ve met that mattered (while they are important come evaluation time)

No, it was the human connection that made things memorable and meaningful.

Those small talks in the pantry. The asaran in the Big Brother house. The kulitans in the Same time.

They may not be work related. They may not contribute to my promotion. They may not add up to the bottom line. But these are the stuff that made the fabric of the memories of my stay with the company.

The stuff that made those stretched goals bearable.

I miss the times I had to trump Yuri’s hirits in ST.

Or the time Martin and I placed “Feel free to talk to me” as Gian’s wallpaper.

I miss making hirit to Kat, the fan club or to CheG the pres of the other fan club.

I miss eating Spanish Sardines on bread with Empoy in the pantry while watching the vacant lot beside our building.

They have long left the company and I surely miss them

And now with LesMatu, the other half of the CPSO dynamic duo, leaving, going to the office will never be the same again.