I remember a winter with storms the first year or so I joined a startup.
The roads turned slick and caused car accidents. Bay Area rainstorms could transform a 15-minute commute into an hour. One day despite warnings on the news, I drove to the office after looking outside. A trickle of rain – what storm?
The startup encouraged working from home. As a junior engineer I charged into the office daily for advice on writing web apps from my manager. On that rainy day I also wanted to show dedication despite the elements.
A drizzle is not stopping me from learning Ruby on Rails.
Then the rain picked up, droplets pelting the car. Rainwater filled the cracks and the indentations of the road. Puddles turned into pools and the car smacked into them, drenching the windshield. I set the wiper settings to high. The rubber blades squealed, unable to clear my view. I couldn’t recall the last time I replaced the windshield wipers.
The water stuck.
Rain from above battered the glass, compounding the lack of visibility. The droplets smeared across my vision.
I remember the halos of lights and the red haze of the cars from behind as drivers tapped their brakes. I couldn’t gauge the distance. For safety I took the next exit and avoided the freeway on the return home.
As I worked from home, I received an email from my manager. The gist was, “You can’t disappear like that. If you’re not planning on showing up to the office, you need to let me know, especially during a big storm. I was worried about you.”
From that moment I always notified him in advance if I couldn’t come into the office. I wondered why my manager bothered.
Years later, a new engineer missed meetings in the morning and did not respond to any of my calls or pings. This was his first week and I wasn’t sure where he was. Scenarios ran through my head – he got lost. His car broke down. He had a family emergency. A freak storm appeared in his neighborhood.
Why is he not responding?
When he later reached out and explained his situation, I could only feel, “Thank goodness. He’s okay.” I will always remember the feeling of uncertainty.
I said, “Next time let me know as soon as you can if you can’t make it to the office. I was worried about you.”
Only then did I understand how my manager felt when I didn’t show up during a storm over half a decade ago.
He cared about me.
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