GEORGE (dating a girl in prison): Jerry, I like being with her. Plus, I know where she is all the time. I have relatively no competition. And you know how you live in fear of the pop-in?
JERRY (shudders): The pop-in.
GEORGE: Yeah, no pop-in, no "in the neighborhood," no "I saw your light was on."
Credit: Seinfeld scripts, The Little Jerry episode.
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For many years since my entry into the working world, my manager has always been located in a different timezone, country and continent altogether. I don't know which Gods I managed to please but think about this: I'm this fresh-out-of-school rookie taking his first, tentative steps into the big, bad world of working professionals and right off the bat, I didn't have to be in before or leave after the manager or try and impress the boss. It was a good 4 months before I even saw my manager in person for the first time: it was all calls and emails in the early days. Of course there were enough checks and balances in place to ensure that we weren't goofing around were getting optimally utilized but you get the idea, right?
Thus it went for years on end. Managers changed. My work location changed. The manager(s) and I continued to play tag via email, periodic conference calls and the occasional video conference. My travels were planned out, their travel itineraries were published in advance and we were aware of each other's whereabouts. It was one happy party. Granted there was the odd day or three when I really missed sitting down the aisle from the boss but advances made in the world of communication technology ensured that those days were few and far apart. Throw in the fact that I was traveling nearly 70% of the time, my in-person meetings with my bosses were rarer than solar eclipses.
They say all things have to come to an end. So after 6 years, the proverbial honeymoon ended when I moved to the Bay Area. For the first time, both me and my manager were located under the same roof. I felt like moving into a big joint family after years of being in a live-in relationship in a different place. Awkward. Suddenly I became more conscious of the hours that I was actually present in the office, the way I dressed and be part of a wider team as opposed to a one-man army. I had to a bit of keeping up with the Joneses. Don't get me wrong: I truly have only good things to say about the people that I reported to. But a six-year party will have a pretty strong hangover.
Then I switched jobs. And guess what? In the new gig, my entire team, including my manager, was located in Israel with me and just a couple of others holding the fort here. And to make things more interesting, the holy land follows a Sunday through Thursday work week besides the ten-hour time difference. This meant two things: early morning calls and emails on Sundays. Oh and back to being a remote employee together with its pros and cons. And the dress code at the new place? Tucking in a shirt means it is either a wedding or a funeral. Through the course of the year, I slowly became more of an Israeli employee than a California professional.
But in just over a year, things look different again. I am now part of a small, close-knit team and everyone is located in the same building within a few meters from each other. Talk about a small world. Back to pressed clothes, regular shaves and ch... I'd like to tell you more but I think I hear steps coming down the hallway. Talk to you soon.
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