Missing a Very Special Co-Worker

Tori was interviewed by a student at UC Riverside soon after she became a recruiter. This is the all-time most viewed Peace Corps video on YouTube, with nearly 65,000 views to date.  It's also really funny to watch her bug out her eyes -- as noted in the comments section under the video!

So far the first three days of my new job are going well (I'll write more about that later), but there is something important missing at this new job: a very special co-worker named Tori!

Many people found it odd that Tori and I worked together, and even odder when they saw that our offices were literally right next to each other.  But we did it for more than four years and, 99.9% of the time, it was great.  I can count on one hand the number of times that I arrived at work upset with Tori and actually it was always hard to stay upset with her since we had to work together -- it's pretty hard to give your co-worker the silent treatment.

And, though our fellow co-workers can attest to the fact that we certainly had many non-work-related conversations during the course of the day (Did the social worker call?  Did you deposit that check?), I can honestly say that I think I was a better employee because of working with Tori.

You know when you're trying to navigate a complex situation at work and you talk to your spouse about it, but they really don't understand the nuances of either the work issue or the personalities you're trying to describe?  I regularly turned to Tori for advice on challenging issues and valued her as a sounding board because I knew she'd be 100% honest and she gave objective advice that I trusted.  That in and of itself is very valuable in a workplace.

Also, as our work loads ebbed and flowed, we relied on each other for help and we were both good at being each other's assistant when we were really busy.  I don't think I'll ever have another co-worker that I can just dump tasks on like that -- but of course you can do that to your spouse!  We were always willing to help each other out because we cared about each other's stress level, and on a more selfish level, we wanted the other person to come home on time and help with the kids!

There is one more thing that I will really miss about having Tori as my co-worker and it doesn't relate to making me more efficient or better at my job.  I loved working with Tori because it was  fun to see her as a talented professional who excelled in her job and was appreciated by her peers and her applicants.  Sometimes I would be so proud of a presentation she made, or something she said in a meeting, or a team-building event that she facilitated at a staff retreat.  I always felt lucky to see her in that role, rather than only getting to interact with her as a wife or mother.  And of course there were the lunch dates, which are great because you don't need a babysitter!

Tori says that now that we won't see each other all day long, we'll be more excited to see each other and that may be true.  But I will definitely miss having a great co-worker and also getting to spend the adult time together.

Then again, I know she'd be great with the National Park Service, so maybe we'll get to work together again!