the voice behind the keys

LINK: the voice behind the keys

The other day, I bumped into our security guard. Seeing him brought me back when I first started working at this building.

Back then, my director had me working out of her office a few days a week. She’d come in later and we’d go straight into whatever projects that she wanted me to handle. She knew that I had worked as a director at an another entity before but stepped down and thought that with my experience, I could think outside the box and view things from a different lens. I didn’t mind doing a portion of her administrative work; anything new that I learned felt like another tool in my kit and another skill to add to my CV.

The only problem though was that she couldn’t give me keys to her office, because I wasn’t technically in management. So three mornings a week, I had to call security to let me into her office. That meant that he would have to schlep it all the way from one end of the building to the other to unlock the door for me. I always felt guilty having him trek over, but then again, that’s what his job entails him to do.

To make it up, I started bringing homemade breakfast for him and la jefa (the boss). It wasn’t anything fancy, just egg bites, oatmeal, quiches, or fruit salads that I made. I was also trying to curb eating out with the director cause my pants were starting to get tight and going out three times a week was getting pricey. He would always appreciate the food and we’d chat for a few minutes while he unlocked the door and I could get settled into the office.

He was older, his memory wasn’t as good so he took the liberty of calling me “Baby Girl.” I never minded it because he called plenty of younger women, “Honey”. We all knew he was happily married with children and grandchildren.

One day, as we were chatting it up, he casually mentioned how he used to be a professional singer in his former life. What? No way! He told me about his worldwide tour. How cool was that?

A few hours later, he brought me a couple of his CDs. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t own a CD player, so when I left work, I purchased an external drive for my iMac to play the CDs. I wasn’t expecting much but I was genuinely pleased and surprised. His voice was soulful and full of heart. I could hear in his voice that this was his passion and he was having the time of his life doing it.

It reminded me that people have another life, where they go and pursue their passions. And it’s beautiful to see and hear about it.