Let Down Go

So my boss finished up last week. Now it feels strange. I'm working with strangers. Strangers who are strange.

Actually, they seem quite nice. My one new co-worker speaks English very well, and I dig that. She's friendly and talkative and she likes to spend a LOT of time in church. She's very pretty but it's hard to get a handle on her style of fashion. She's been working for a couple weeks now and I don't think she's repeated an outfit yet. The first couple days she donned dresses that Lucille Ball or Beaver Cleaver's mom wore back in the day. Then she relaxed a bit and sported jeans and a T-shirt (my uniform, pretty much) but this past week was a real mishmash. One day she wore a pinstripe bright red suit that could have only come from the eighties, complete with massive shoulder pads. The next day she was pretty in a beige peasant skirt, olive tee and fringey leather belt wrapped around her hips. Very Boho chic. The day after that, though, she looked like a nurse with a white short sleeved stretchy polyester jacket over white polyester slacks. All that was missing were sensible nurse shoes,...but her indoor-slippers were pretty sensible come to think of it. I don't really care one way or the other about what people wear, but it's interesting to witness this parade of fashion. She would be on both the best and worst dressed lists if she were a celebrity.

Anyhow, my boss's last day was anti-climatic. As I left to go home I went to say goodbye to her and she squished up her face in mock-sadness and said "bye, Jeeelllllyyyy." And that was that. I felt sort of let down. I guess I expected something genuine, maybe a thank-you for working (hard) for her for the last four years. Maybe a card with a note in it. I'd even have settled for a hug or a handshake, but nope. Oh, I did get a present. I got a little gift box from the Body Shop. Moisturizer and body wash. Whoopdeedoo. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, it's just that, well, I'M UNGRATEFUL! No, that's not right. More like I'm disappointed and she's ungrateful. I know it's silly, but I felt fairly abandoned. I was also surprised by how territorial I was feeling at work this past week. I keep reminding myself to relax and stop taking things so personally. I suppose it all boils down to expectations. It's better to just let them go and take things as they come, and I'm optimistic about what's to come. We shall see.