Happy Trails

Today is the last day for a friend of mine at this job. Now, many people
have left this college, and I have varying degrees of joy/sadness for any
number of them. This one is different.

Donna Urban is one of the sweetest, friendliest and hard-working people I have had the pleasure to know in my whole working life. Her faith is strong and contagious. Practical and down-to-earth, Donna also has the sense of fun that makes even the most rotten day at work seem bearable. She is smart-alecky and quick witted, but is also very compassionate and caring.

I feel responsible, however, for dulling that sense of compassion in my own
silly way.

Donna's desk is the first one in from the front door of the office, and so she sees everyone coming or going. Unfortunately for her, many times when I enter or leave the office, I do the old schtick where you stop the door with
your foot and jerk your head back violently and immediately grab your nose.
I usually add in the "weak kneed back-pedal" to add authenticity. Donna fell for it a number of times.

After MONTHS of this, she eventually got jaded to the "door-ram" trick.
However, one day, the smallest, sweetest and most-liked girl in our office
ran into the door and really did get jolted. For real. And normally, Donna
would be the first to offer aid or at least a caring inquiry of the physical
state, "OH, are you all right?"

My conditioning had worked an evil transformation in our "office Mom"...she just looked at poor Rosie with a blank expression! When she realized that "this is no drill", she immediately burst forth with pent-up compassion and guilty apology for not reacting sooner.

So Donna, thus ends our face-to-face fun times, we will be reduced to typing silly things back and forth. Vaya con Dios, my friend. And have-a a good-a time-a in-a Pearland-a!