Friendly Faces, Part 1

There was a window seat that I was eyeing when I found out that we could apply to move desks. It had a window with a deep knee-high ledge, making the cubicle larger than the standard desk size. The seat faced the walkway (unlike mine: my back is to the walkway). I would be able to document quietly (removed from all the SQC folks testing mobile phone ring tones) and in whatever yoga position that wasn't particularly flattering in dress shirt and slacks. And I'd be able to MSN or to doze off undetected.

Anyway, all that is moot, because when I asked my manager about it, he had already appointed the desks to the new employees reporting the following week. :(

As I was delivering my status report on Monday, the 2 new employees were led into the meeting. One male, one female. When I returned to my seat behind them, I decided that the guy looked kind of familiar. Right. How many people do I know in Taiwan! Pshaw. Probably the "white people" perspective: Chinese people all look the same.

Back at my desk, I finally placed from where he looked familiar, and minutes later, my manager confirmed by leading the new folks around to my desk and announcing, "N, you have a compatriot!"

Get this: he's a coworker from my former company!! What are the chances?! Turns out he came to Taiwan with his then-pregnant wife in Feb, and just changed jobs into my company, my business unit, my department... my team! Holy guacamole!

I didn't know him that well back then, but I've been giddy all week.

All the excitement has only been heightened by meeting someone else, too, but that's for another time....