Good Cry, Goodbye

September 26, 2022

This day marked as the last day of employment in my job. As I was excited to end my day, I never thought that I will feel such attachment towards my peers. If you know how much I rant about my employer, you will also be shocked that I felt loved by my colleagues.

Since both me and my friend will end our employement, we planned a little celebration. First, it was decided that it will be a team lunch until the whole production floor joined. This statement is without exaggeration. Even our bosses joined our lunch. What I appreciated more is that my teammates and colleagues gave their own share for the food. I thought that it will just be me and my friend who will cover the lunch alone, but we were surprised that they contributed a lot!

Our lunch consists of 6 boxes of Angel's pizza, Pancit that was made with love (as per my team since it was ordered on a motel's menu), fried chicken, chao fan (sponsored by our company since we have free food on Fridays) and soft drinks. It suffice the hunger of my colleague, I sighed in relief.

Since it was my last day, I didn't plan to perform well but I was still hoping to leave with a good numbers in my performance. But then as we are on a off peak season, it became impossible on my end. A high avail time plus voicemail calls combined resulting to zero performance. Haha! At least finally I won't need to be stressed over something I can't control.

Going back to the good vibes, all day long during our shift, I heard them saying that they will miss us. I mean one goodbye is already saddening. Imagine two bouncing baby girl leaving at the same time, I feel for them. But now comes the moment of truth, it is already the end of our shift, our final shift. I never expected something out of the ordinary. I was just thinking of a formal goodbye, as what I was used everytime I resigned to a company. This time is different. Again, without exaggeration, the whole production floor peeps came to us saying goodbye. Hugs this and there. The first time I hugged a lot of people on a day. Some took a picture with us (wow, artista yan?). The whole floor was legit noisy and all you will hear is goodbye and goodluck. The moment I got teary eyed was when I hugged my first ever superior in that company. The person who saw me broke down and saw me rise up again. But I managed to hold back my tears and made a joke to make the mood light. We were the last to leave the office since we still said goodbyes to our friendly guard and custodians, whom we shared jokes and office teas.

As much as I hate the account for their uncontrollable metrics and demands, I can't deny the fact that I have enjoyed my moment with my peers. The moments where we have to hide our movies to our superiors since it's not allowed in the office. How we snuck in food in the production floor. How we complain about the account's demand. How we had an inappropriate conversation during our shift. How we tease each other. How we were alive when sharing gossips. I will cherish those moments. Sadly, it's not enough to cover how eager we are to leave.

"It's just goodbye, it's not the end"

Author's Note

After shift we went to the clinic to fully maximize our health card. Initially, we were planning to do our physical examination but it needed endorsement from the company, so we ended up with a general consultation. I learned that I have Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorder. That explains why everytime I yawn, my jaw cracked and sometimes it causes pain. Doctor's advised was for me to be conservative in terms of laughing, eating and anything that involves force in my jaw.