The last time I saw an ex-boss.

The last time I saw an ex-boss.

I’ve had several previous jobs. This likewise means several ex-bosses.

Just last Saturday, we’re in a mall and opted to have a lunch at an eat-all-you can restaurant. This was in Pampanga. It would not be a remote chance to bump into an ex-officemate since most of them were from there. What is unexpected is to see this lady, right straight the seat on the next table. She was my manager years ago in a government agency.

I had to pause and think whether to approach her or not. I noticed that she no longer remembers me. There were instances that she happens to look towards our table. No traces of recognition from her. I’ll call her Boss no. 1.

This reminds me of the last time I saw another former boss. Boss no. 2 was my boss in a Local Government Unit. There was no doubt that anywhere I would see her, she’ll definitely know me. She’s a relative. Tracing by affinity, she’s practically my lola, being a Tita of my mother. I just don’t know what number of degree.

The last time I saw her was a year ago which is somehow of this same season. “Nag-asawa ka na raw?” she asked, despite that she already knew that I got married. Then, she invited me –and my family to their house for the town fiesta. I remember that as a child, we would go to their house yearly for the same occasion –and Christmas para mamasko.

There was a bit of awkwardness. I don’t know if she’s still upset that I left, despite her refusal.

We were not able to go to the fiesta, and never gone to see her lately.

Boss no. 3 was from the Government agency where I worked for 5 years. I only worked with him for around 2-3 months before he was transferred to another branch.

Years after and I no longer worked for that agency, I attended their summer outing. It came as a surprise that he does not only recognize me, he even remembers my name. He said, “Ah syempre kilala ko pa yan, si Richard”. He’s back to the branch as the Manager. This was the time that all of my former officemates were (re)introducing me to him. They were all keen on convincing him to re-hire me at the office. This was before I tell them that I already have a job, in contrast to their belief that I’m pathetic to be lost-ang-career.

But that was not the last time I saw him. We recently went to a field work in Dinalupihan and had a lunch at the fast food restaurant beside my former office. I was hoping to see some former pals who would take lunch in the same place. There was none.

I just saw one person –a far, by the time we are leaving and already inside our service vehicle. That’s Boss no. 3.

I’ve had several previous jobs. This likewise means several ex-bosses. This would go on to Boss no. 4, 5, 6 and so forth. There is an ex-boss who I never bumped into again, but I hear good words from him that I'm a fine writer. There is an ex-boss who I never attempted to approach even I saw him on several occasions because firstly, he would definitely not remember me. Another problem is if he does. He'll just remember me as his employee he caught sleeping at the office.

At this point, I feel tired of analyzing what happened in my life, having numerous jobs. Wherever I’ll go as a co-employee, I’ll be part of someone’s career (life), as a subordinate or as a fellow. Although it may concern me whether they remember me or not, I know that I can only do so much. If I’m the bida of my own story, I may only be a supporting role, extra or bit player to other people’s story.

I’ve had several previous jobs. I could no longer change that. What I have may be a series of right or wrong choices. Positive or negative as it may seem, I stood and pick up the pieces. Hindi naman masama kinalalagyan ko ngayon, - a regular employee in a government agency.

As for my present job, my boss is a future-ex boss. It’s not that I will (again!) resign from my job. She’s the one leaving. She’s off to be with her foreigner-husband in the U.S. (I can’t remember the exact State). There’s no way that I can be at par with my co-employees who are with her around the decades. I just came to know her briefly for (exactly on this day) a year, I just hope I made an impact on her, at least not to forget me.

The last time I’ll see her, estimably would be on the day of her despedida few weeks from now.

As for Boss no. 1, I walk towards her and introduced myself. She still does not remember me despite telling my name, the place where we worked and the year I was hired to the office. She told me, she does when I enumerated Sharon Felix, Jasper Cadiz and Laarni Canare as the other employees who are of the same batch in my entry to the agency. I don’t believe her. She’s just discreet