A few weeks ago, we received email invitations from CEO’s executive assistant, Tammy and head of HR for a “social distance” lunch today. It will be great to see everybody after seven months of working from home due to Covid.
To keep social distance, we were assigned “time slot” based on last name to get food from the food truck. I was in the last group. When I arrived, everybody was there and ate already. I found Tammy and handed her a small envelope with a thank you card and Starbucks gift card inside (she loves its ice coffee). Then I went off to say hello to colleagues. I chatted with my boss. He looks great and are in high spirit. It has been a different year yet we are grateful to be healthy, happy, and productive with works.
A perfect day to be outside – sunny, high 60s with refreshing breeze. We stood on the green lawn facing the pond. Threes around started to change color, beautiful and relaxing. We had two food trucks, Roxy Grilled Cheese and Whoopi Wagon. I started with truffles fries which were crispy and fat (a short cylinder instead of a stick). The short-ribs grilled cheese sandwich was loaded with juicy meat, it’s chewy, soft, and cheesy, wow! I “managed” not to think of a second and chose a roasted tomato soup instead while “strategically” left the last bit of stomach for a Whoopi pie. I was told the gluten free pie was made of pumpkin, sure, I’ll give it a try. It’s less sweet and a little drier than expected which was good. The least thing my stomach should handle now is a sugar bomb.
What a great idea/ event Tammy and HR put together. At the end, I found Tammy who always runs around taking care of others and offered to help clean-up. She refused twice and said there wasn’t much to do until I insisted to “take a walk” together to get things back from the tables. Then I saw what Tammy put together for each table…She got flower from neighbor’s garden, picked pine nuts (prettier ones on the table, less-good-looking ones as base to hold the flower in the vase), and filled buckets with ice to serve cold drinks. She also prepared sanitizer, paper towel, and masks for the event. I don’t know how much it’d cost if outsourcing these and how many people know that Tammy did it all. I remember the shiny Christmas tree, colorful gifts, and joyful figures she decorated the office last year for the holiday when she heard it’d cost $5000. Tammy is the kind of person who is willing to go extra miles for others. If you compliment her, she would tell you that she doesn’t think herself as creative or crafty but does what she thinks makes sense.
Thanks, Tammy for being who you are, thoughtful and resourceful. Cheers when you take a moment to treat yourself with an ice coffee!
Note: name has been changed to protect the person’s privacy.