I almost didn't go to my friend Craig's informal pre-trip-to-Europe get-together last night; at rush hour, and given my car's increasing state of disrepair, I didn't want to drive into DC and try to find parking in Dupont Circle, so I knew if I went I'd need to park somewhere out here and take the Metro. Driving home from work, I took a route that was the starting point for either a Metro station or home, and at one point turned off toward home but changed my mind en route and went to the Metro, and then on to the gathering, instead.
I was a little nervous, specifically because a former co-worker and very good friend during my dot-com days had indicated that she was going to attend. Immediately after my department was abolished and I was laid off along with my staff, she and I had made plans to get together, but the first time she had to postpone and the second I did, and then we never communicated again. Over time, I started to realize that I felt some anger at her, in that I felt she had been complicit in her silence while the company's CEO--her fiance's friend and college roommate--committed a number of dishonest, potentially illegal and, in my opinion, absolutely immoral acts in his oversight of the organization, and in his cavalier treatment of staff. So by the time last night's event rolled around twenty months after I had severed ties with the company, I just wasn't sure I wanted to see her again.
And, of course, when she showed up and people shifted at the table to make room for her, the empty seat available was right next to me. I have to admit that I was a little cool at first, though not, I think, unpleasant. But as the evening wore on, the situation continued to ease and my demeanor to warm, and by the time she and I were readying to leave at the same time, we were absolutely pals again--and I realized that I had indeed missed her very much--and we had exchanged new contact information and pledges to get together soon.
I'm glad that I decided to go. In addition to reconnecting with S--, I was also very happy that I had the chance to spend some time with Craig before his trip to Europe; and in the course of my conversation with him, he offered to let me use his car while he's away, which will finally allow me to get down to visit my parents over the next six weeks since my own car isn't suitable for longer trips, and he will borrow my digital camera for his trip. There was also a cute guy at the get-together, a new co-worker of Craig's roommate, but I didn't have an opportunity to talk to him at all--and akin to the fox's grapes, he likely was straight anyway, despite being surprisingly well-dressed for a computer engineer, which probably was what threw off my gaydar.
