Today I came across a man wearing a thick heavy silver chain necklace. In the instant that I noticed it, I was reminded of an old manager of mine. He offered me a job when I was 22, and had recently lost my mother. He used to wear a thick gold bracelet. It stood out in my mind quite significantly. It was a random observation though. What stands out more for me was that he was very kind to me.

My very first job was as a graduate at IBM. I hated it. As soon as my mother passed away I gave myself permission to leave. I left without having anothe job lined up, and I didn’t care. During my first week of unemployment I started with temp office work. By the third week in I was bored. And so I went on a few coding interviews.

On the Friday afternoon I received a phone call. The job offer was mine! And I was being offered a higher salary than I had been earning at IBM. Win! I started on the 1 Sept 1996, exactly one month after leaving IBM.

I loved that job. I was part of a team. I belonged. It was wonderful. The work was interesting, as well as challenging too. Our team was disbanded twenty months later. But for that short time, it was a life-changer.

Pictured above, sitting on the right. My manager was second from the left. I was happy when that photo was taken.