If Last Week Were a Fish…
February 21, 2010
If last week were a fish, I'd have thrown it back. I had too much work to do and too little time to do it. My new boss started, and although I was fine with that, there was a lot of "change" in the air, and some folks seemed worried. . Taking Peter to hospital for eye surgery, picking him up later in the middle of a busy work day, and having to take him to the doctor's the next morning further complicated my routine. Not to mention that I had my 72nd birthday in the middle of all that.
But there was one very special thing. On Thursday, a lot of people at work asked me how Peter's operation went. Some of these were people I don't even know by name. I wondered how they knew about his surgery.
Here's what happened.
A long-postponed farewell reception for my former boss, Joe, was held the evening of Peter's surgery. Joe's former boss was distressed that I couldn't attend, and persuaded me to videotape some remarks for the reception. Although I can handle speaking in front of people, a videotaped appearance was something new for me. You have to understand that there are two huge screens on which I would appear, each more than life-size. None of the 150 people in the room could miss my words. So I was a bit anxious about the whole thing.
It turns out that the introduction to my appearance on-screen included the following: "Judy couldn't be here tonight because her husband had surgery today."
So that's how people knew. Several individuals, after asking about Peter's health, added that my presentation was the most moving moment of the evening.
On balance, I guess it's OK that last week was not a fish.
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