Shored Up Synchronization

You know in life it's funny how you just seem to click with certain people. It's like when you're the ying, they're the yang and when they're the ying, you're the yang. What exactly pulls you together you have no clue. I was thinking about that this morning during a rare early morning workout. I was leaving in the wee hours of the morning from a random hookup and decided instead of doing my traditional "walk of shame" at home, I would do a few "laps of acclaim" (*LOL*...yeah.) at my gym.

So Hemingway while doing my "laps of acclaim" I thought of an incident I had yesterday afternoon at work with a co-worker. This co-worker is actually one of our offshore co-ordinators that distributes work among the remaining offshore team.

So Hiresh and I were on the main floor of our work campus purchasing coffee beverages. The store is a "Starbucks-like" establishment with the "tall", "grande", "vendi" sizes for their drinks. Earlier that day I was in a morning training session where I won a free campus card for participating and asking a question.

When mid-afternoon hit I was returning from my usual Subway run with a sandwich and heading to the cafeteria to eat it. As I was doing this, Hiresh happened to walk by where I was sitting, heading towards the nearby vending machines. We exchanged greetings and I insisted that he "took a load off" and sit down with me.

We chatted about various topics, including our crazy work project and my obsession with Subway. At some point I made a mention of the training session and showed him the card I was given. I knew that Hiresh drank more coffee and purchased more cafeteria food that I do so I offered to give him the card. He hesitated asking me how much value was in the card. I had no idea. I was thinking it might have $10 while he was thinking $5. He suggested we both use it later in the afternoon for a coffee pick me up.

So when the time came, we both went to the "Starbucks-like" establishment where he ordered a tall beverage while I ordered a "grande" one. The total came out to $5.98. I presented the server with the card. It turned out the card only had $5 in it and I owed 98 cents. Instinctively I reached for change despite the fact of knowing that the store only accepted credit cards. A random co-worker offered to pay the difference with his credit card "in exchange for the cash". I accepted even though I easily could've pulled my card out. For some reason, my brain missed the "in exchange for the cash" part. The server had some initial confusion on using the additional card but finally was able to add his purchase of coffee to the bill so she could use his card.

He looked at me a bit, I thanked him, and he went to pour his coffee. Hiresh kept saying that I owed him 98 cents (which was true). But my brain seemed to register only up to "paying the difference with his credit card". Hiresh kept insisting and after a minute I realized my mistake. The guy in the meantime was about to disappear back to wherever he was going. I ran up to him and apologized as I gave him the change. He made noises like he didn't care if he got it but since he did say "in exchange for the cash", I knew it was just a cover.

I returned back feeling my usual embarrassment over my gaffe. Hiresh was ready to move on to other topics but my earlier gaffe was still bothering me. He kept asking why I couldn't let it go. I told him that one of the weaknesses of my personality is that I tend to replay things in my head over and over. I just couldn't help thinking how silly I was to assume that the guy was going to just pay the difference and that was it. I also continued to feel embarrassment since there were folks around that were watching the entire exchange.

So we got back to our respective work areas and needed to discuss on some work issues on the project. My mind wasn't there though as I kept referencing that gaffe. How I wish I could let shit go.

Hiresh was laughing at me still not believing I was thinking about it. I tried to rationalize it saying that I did resolve the situation eventually. But the fact that I glossed over the co-worker's key words of "getting the cash" still teased me.

So then I made a comment that it wouldn't have happened if I had ordered a tall instead of a grande. Then I added that it wouldn't have happened if Hiresh wasn't with me to purchase the coffee.

So Hiresh and I made the "wouldn't have happened" scenario into a game:

He said...."I shouldn't have shown him the card."

I said..."He shouldn't have run into me in the cafeteria."

He said..."I shouldn't have told him to sit down with me."

I said..."I shouldn't have participated in the training session so I wouldn't have had the card."

We joked a bit more and then he commented that I would somehow connect the "war on Iraq" happening due to me not giving the co-worker his change. That made me realize how silly I was acting.

Eventually we focused back on work. But our witty exchanges reminded me of the chemistry I seem to have with Hiresh. In a way I see him as the little brother I never had. We both lamented on getting older. Me about to turn 37 in October and he about to turn 26 and inching closer to turning 30.

That of course made me tell him about the time when I got my friend and former co-worker Stan a birthday card when he turned 35. The front of the card said "You Da Man". Then when you opened it, the inside said "You Da Old Man". Five years later on my birthday, my co-workers got me the exact same birthday card. I totally cracked up but sighed realizing that the shoes on the other foot. And someday Hiresh will be my age talking to a younger guy starting out his career in his mid-20s and would likely have similar like conversations.

Hemingway I'll be really sad when it's time for him to go back to India. The company's kept him around longer than usual. Rotations for co-ordinators are typically four months. He arrived December 1st and it's now mid-April. He mentioned that they extended his stay till at least Mid-May. I keep joking that he should stay in Chicago. But I know he has a life back home that he looks forward to going back to.

Oh well....I need to log into work. Thank goodness I still have a job with this crazy economy.

Ohh...and just like that, my four year anniversary of blogging came and went on April 2nd. Hopefully I can get myself back to a regular blogging schedule. We'll see.