This happened awhile ago. It has stayed in my mind ever since.
"We hear Dr XXXX is leaving the department" a colleague remarked.
"Yeah!" another one said with a very happy expression.
""Why, you sound almost happy about it" the first one said.
"Of course I am happy. It is good riddance!"
"When Dr XXXXXXXXXXXX retired, it was a great relief. Then Dr XXXXXXXX left. It was good riddance. This was follows by Dr XXXXX and Dr XXXX. We felt the same about them too. Now when this person goes, we will be OK."
"Are we being negative about it?" I asked.
"No. A lot of others left. We were very sad when Dr XXX left. We still miss all those who made working in the department a pleasure. But among them all, these few have been really troublesome. If only they had done their own job without bothering others, we would not have felt so about them."
'Maybe bothering others is the job of some people' I thought.
"What do you think" someone asked me.
"I know one cannot please everyone. A few will criticize one no matter how hard one tries. But most people should want one to stay on, even when it is time for one to go. Some people may feel neither good nor bad when one leaves. It is OK. If majority feel it is good riddance when one leaves, one has failed."
"But how would one know what they feel? Everyone says good things about the person who is leaving at the time of the farewell."
"You can read it in their eyes" I said.
"We hear Dr XXXX is leaving the department" a colleague remarked.
"Yeah!" another one said with a very happy expression.
""Why, you sound almost happy about it" the first one said.
"Of course I am happy. It is good riddance!"
"When Dr XXXXXXXXXXXX retired, it was a great relief. Then Dr XXXXXXXX left. It was good riddance. This was follows by Dr XXXXX and Dr XXXX. We felt the same about them too. Now when this person goes, we will be OK."
"Are we being negative about it?" I asked.
"No. A lot of others left. We were very sad when Dr XXX left. We still miss all those who made working in the department a pleasure. But among them all, these few have been really troublesome. If only they had done their own job without bothering others, we would not have felt so about them."
'Maybe bothering others is the job of some people' I thought.
"What do you think" someone asked me.
"I know one cannot please everyone. A few will criticize one no matter how hard one tries. But most people should want one to stay on, even when it is time for one to go. Some people may feel neither good nor bad when one leaves. It is OK. If majority feel it is good riddance when one leaves, one has failed."
"But how would one know what they feel? Everyone says good things about the person who is leaving at the time of the farewell."
"You can read it in their eyes" I said.
