Points2Ponder

                    "Two Italians at Work! Fugetaboutit!"

            Points2Ponder

                                              By Alan P. Scaglone

 For those of us who work—

Did you realize that you spend more waking hours with your co-workers than you do with your family?
On the average, unless you sleep on the job—and some I have found do—
You are with your work family more waking hours than with your home family…
And yet—you know so little about them.
I remember when I worked with a guy named Doug at IBM…
He always referred to his spouse as “the Wife”—every time he talked about her.
I remember about 4 or 5 years into our work relationship…
I spoke up and said “Doug, just what IS your wife’s name?”
He looked back at me startled and thought a minute and said, “Don’t I call her by her name?”
I said “No, you refer to her as The Wife!”

Points2Ponder  When’s the last time you really got to know a co-worker? We call them friends, but…how many really are? And what makes them one?

 So I have this friend from work who I had known for 4 years in September.

I remember because—It was the first day coming back to work from my heart attack, and I came back the first day after Labor Day!
And there he was—sitting across from me—not even 30 years old, young married guy, just had a baby boy—real friendly.
Did I mention that he was Italian?
Yeh—that probably helped a lot—we immediately hit it off.
I was in a lot of residual pain, and I just wasn’t the ol’ Alan—everyone else at work noticed it, but he didn’t—because he didn’t know the old Alan.
He just accepted me for the me I was at that moment in my life.
I remember the first time he said “say that again!” and I saw him writing down my sayings.
He then put them in his wallet so he could tell his wife what I had said.
And he made me laugh!
I remember him talking to a co-worker about how they used to call the boys with his name when he grew up in Patterson, New Jersey.
And I looked at him and said, “Teeto! That’s your nickname—Teeto!”
And I have called him that for the past four years.
He invited my wife and myself and Jett even—to his son’s birthday party.
We went and met his family—his parents and his in-laws—all delightful people—friendly and inviting—and a quality family!
And we started getting invited to “family” gatherings, even spent Christmas Eve at their friendly table last year!
We went from co-workers to work friends to friends to family!
And that just doesn’t happen a lot in work relationships.
And I think of him as a son and a valued friend—and his sons, Luca and Liam, both call me Uncle Alan.
All from this guy who didn’t know me before my heart attack!
I remember writing one of my early columns about Teeto being a Lifetime Friend-in-training!
And now…that friendship will be put through the test.
He just got a great work opportunity and is leaving our company—we won’t work together anymore!
And I am missing his “every day, funny way of looking at life that always makes me laugh” presence already.
But I have to say, no matter what happens to the day-to-day communication that our friendship has been afforded for the last 4 years…
I know—I am thankful for my Time with Teeto!
In a world where we don’t even know the name of the spouse of someone we spend 40 hours a week with—
I am thankful for Anthony and Stacie Farinella—they made us feel welcomed in their home and in their lives!
It has been a distinct honor to be your co-worker who turned into your “family friends”—and a joy to be a part of your lives.
And that just doesn’t happen every day at work!
By the way—Doug’s wife’s name was Jeanne!

 I’m Just… Reflecting on -- Life!

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