Pizza lunch

Sometimes it's nice to write about something totally different, just because it's not part of the same tired drama. A couple days ago, my pre-teen boys went out to lunch with my company's HR Director.

I need to set the stage a little bit.

1. This guy works in one of our other offices, in another state. He stops in here a few times a year. But despite his long tenure with our mother company and his exalted rank as a member of Senior Management, he also has the sense of humor -- and the attention span -- of an energetic twelve-year-old boy.


2. For the last year, Son 1 was attending a school no more than 5 minutes' walk from my office. So after school, he would regularly wander down to my work; I'd find him an empty desk somewhere, and he'd start his homework. (OK, usually he would start by hitting up the coffee machine for a hot cocoa; but then he'd have to pull out the math book ....)


3. So what with one thing and another, Son 1 and HR Director met a few times and hit it off immediately. Did I mention that Son 1 is twelve, and that HR Director might as well be twelve if you judged by his jokes and energy levels instead of by his thinning hair? Anyway, they became natural buddies.


4. Next Monday, school starts for Son 1 and Son 2; but for right now they are still at loose ends.

Anyway, HR Director flew into town this week to work on some projects with our local HR department. Monday afternoon, he asked me, "So, is your son around this week?"

Meanwhile our local HR department was asking me, "Can you bring in Son 1 to distract this guy for a while? You can't believe how hard it is to get any work done when he is in town."

And that night, when I mentioned that HR Director was here, Son 1 asked me, "Can I go to work with you tomorrow? HR Director is awesome!" Just for good measure, Son 2 (who is 11) chimed in, "Hey, if Son 1 gets to go then I get to go too!"

So we worked out a plan. HR Director is mad about pizza. Unsurprisingly, so are the boys. So I brought them in one morning with the idea that he would take them out for pizza.

And, remarkably enough, he did. True, the boys didn't have a lot to do around my office that morning ... I had them help out with a little filing and they ended up washing a coworker's car just to beguile the time. But then it was lunchtime. HR Director asked me if I was going too, and my boys promptly interrupted, "No, Dad has to stay here. You're just taking us." He looked at me quizzically, I smiled and shrugged ... and off they went.

Apparently they had a fine time. After lunch, Wife drove over to my office to pick them up. But that evening, HR Director stopped by my office and said, "Dude,* your kids are just amazing. You know, it is really rare for kids that age to be able to talk to adults. But both of them can talk to me just fine, and carry on interesting conversations. And I have to tell you, that's an important sign of success in later life."

I don't know where he gets his facts about success in later life, but it is great to hear. Son1 and Son2 have to be the best things I ever got from Wife. I wonder how they are going to weather the next few months; sometimes, thinking about them, I still wonder if I am making a mistake. But there is no doubt in my mind how wonderful and precious they are.

* Yes, he really talks like that. The man is fifty years old, he grew up in the Midwest, and he starts every second sentence with "Dude."