Warn 'em - no whistling!

So as you may have seen by my last entry my best friend, Mollie, is changing jobs. She's worked for eight years at a big telecom company and now she's going to be switching gears and working for a private contractor.

For nearly six years I've been IMing with her while she's been at work. I know the names of her co-workers, her bosses, the names of the managers and the vice presidents. I know who in the office whistles (they'd be the ones that Mollie's given a black eye to), who plays their radio too loud, who gossips, who has to be reminded forty-'leven times to turn their reports. I know more about the woman she worked for and her marriage and kid that should be possible for someone who lives over four thousands miles away. And what may be considered weirder, many of these people know who I am as well. I'm known as "Mollie's friend in Germany" but it's something.

Now she'll be working in a situation where IMing will be impossible and I have to say that while I understand it, I don't like it. It's like sending your kid, albeit a tall one, to their first day of school. She's going to be out of my sight now and what will happen? Who's going to be there when a co-worker crinkles their potato chip bag or - God forbid - whistles? Who's going to get Mollie's comparisons of her co-workers to characters on Bonanza? When some report doesn't get turned in on time or her boss wants something outrageous done and wants it done yesterday, who's going to reassure her that it'll get done and get done right because she's good at that sort of thing? Who's going to be there when she's dying to tell someone about something really embarrassing that happened or when a co-worker says something hysterically funny?

I guess I'm just going to have to wait for the weekend update but it's just not going to be the same.

Good luck with the new job, Mollie. I know you're going to be terrific at the new job. And let the new folks know you've got a friend in Germany. I don't want to be a stranger to them.