Goodbyes

There is a quote from Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet "parting is such sweet sorrow" that is often cited in different occasions. Tonight I had to say goodbye to one of the best supervisor's I've had the honor to work with and it was just like the quote sweet but at the same time sorrowful. This man was such a great person to work with, he managed to find that balance between authority and comraderie in the work place. For the most part I like my shift but before Mel came to our shift there wasn't that bond between the new peopel and the veterans. Mel brought our shift together by his sense of humor. He would try to scare us by hiding around corners and got me good a few times including once while I was on the radio talknig. But he also managed to maintain his authority and there was never any doubt as to who was in charge. Good leaders like him are hard to find these days! The kind that can motivate their people to work without raising their voice, create an environment where people still feel free to express themselves and yet be productive, and yet maintain a sense of decorum and order. He was wonderful and we're going to miss him.

But like most good people he had to move on and leave us quicker than the rest. So being the good team that we were, we gave him a good farewell to show our appreciation to him being a great supervisor. Hopefully he will stop by to visit once in a while since he's still with the department. He just moved to a different division, so it's not a complete and finite parting!