Class Photo of Classy People

Do you remember class photo day?

Sure, there was the High School Senior Photo - where everyone sat on the bleachers, unofficially creating "their" areas - the stoners, the surfers, the chess dorks, the nerds, the science geeks, the cheerleaders, the jocks, the dropouts - but I mean before that. Did your school (at any level) participate in a class photo?

In 2005, when my boss Tom and I were transferring from one division to another, the team we were departing from insisted on giving us a proper farewell. As this was a sales team, a "proper farewell" equated to dinner, an extremely open and well-stocked bar, and a scathing roasting. My boss was a really loud guy - great head for numbers, extremely fair and intelligent, amazing negotiating skills but Tom was also a lightning rod for a great prank, a terrific story teller and the center of pretty much every party. He'd roasted quite a few folks as they moved up the chain - it was time for a payback, and his team was more than prepared and had ammo to spare.

For starters, we invited his wife not only to be a surprise attendee, but an active participant. Ohhhhh and she was very willing to provide old photos, yearbooks, and more material than we could have ever used. There even was a photo of Tom taking a shower. I kid you not. It was the first time I got a note from our tech staff, who blocked it from my work email address as possible "not safe for work" material. It was only after IT talked to me and heard that I was using it as roast material for Tom (and that I pointed out that the picture was from the waist up and that man-nipples were hardly indecent) that they allowed the photo to come through the firewall.

One of the things we did the night of the party, while the team was still together under one conference-room ceiling, was take a team photo. It's not the best shot - it's a little grainy, and it was taken after there had been significant damage at the open bar - but it is very much the "class photo".

An ex-coworker of mine sent me the shot the other day, and she commented that we were clearly at the right place at the right time with a great team. And she was right - we really, really were and we really, really did.

That company made the news today for having made some hard decisions in a tough economy. Some of my friends lost their jobs ... some knew it was coming, and quite a few didn't. But I didn't hear any rage or anger ... there was no blame assigned - just a company doing what it has to do to stay in business. I think it speaks volumes towards the company and the individuals involved that, even in these uncertain times, the actions were taken only as what had to happen and accepted without bitterness.

I was at the right place at the right time with a great team.