There is a dude who was sort of the guru/inside connection for the main software platform my company uses. We are currently transitioning to another software platform. He's been kept totally out of the loop on that. I get the impression that maybe he screws up a lot and people are tired of working with him. So, it really feels like we're phasing out of both the software and this dude. Like they'll be getting rid of him soon. :(
So, yesterday, the office manager lady was going around to notify that people were gathering at this dude's office for his birthday. We head down there and people are milling around inside and outside his door because he's not there. I decide to go back to my office because there's no telling how long it will be before he returns. And also because the whole thing was kinda weird. Why not in the break room like usual? Why no email announcement like usual?
I heard them sing happy birthday from down the hall, wait a bit, and then head back to his office. He's sitting at his desk, has a smallish cake directly in front of him, and there are around twelve people standing around the perimeter of his office. No one can really think of anything to say. Someone makes a comment on the cake. Everyone is like, "yeah!" Then, silence again. It's just totally rough ridin' awkward. So, he's like, "let's have some cake!" And he reaches awkwardly across his desk for some paper plates and starts cutting into the cake. He's just sitting there at his desk, trying to balance squares of cake on a plastic knife so they don't fall off, and there's a group of people are standing around, just watching. I couldn't stay there. The scene was just too pathetic and sad and I couldn't take it.
When I got in this morning, I saw the pitiful, little cake sitting in the break room. The majority of it was still there. I'd guess maybe six pieces had been eaten.
