Welcome Wednesday: Friends with past coworkers?

[Dave LIAO]

🎉 Hi there, community!

It's time for another Welcome Wednesday, a chance to participate on the Community forums on topics that aren't necessarily Atlassian-related. (See past Welcome Wednesdays here, and join in the conversation!)

For this week, I have a question about community - your friend community. Specifically, past coworkers!

Are you friends with past coworkers? Why - or why not?

Looking forward to your responses! And if it's getting warm where you are, hope you're staying cool. 🧊🍧

[Matt Doar _Adaptavist_]

Sure, yes, in general. There are a few colleagues I'd like to connect with on LinkedIn, just to make sure I don't work with them again, but it's not intended to be used that way :P

But I think my closest friendships come from when families grow up together, either as children or as adults

[Matt Raney]

I had to laugh at the LinkedIn part! 😄 We all have a few coworkers we'd rather not work with again. I agree with you, though—some of the strongest and longest-lasting friendships are the ones that grow through shared life experiences and family connections. Those are truly special. 😊

[Natalie Beiler]

Indeed I do stay connected with many past coworkers. I have had the privilege to work with some amazing people over the past 40+ years. My coworkers often became dear friends as we worked together. Those were the days of going into the "office" and laboring together over many, many challenges in healthcare and healthcare IT.

From my clinical days we laughed and cried as we saw life begin and end together while trying to maintain family life outside of the long shifts, on-call rotations, and staffing shortages.

From my IT days we built new facilities, installed new hardware and software, manually changed backup tapes, rebooted servers from a console in the server room, deployed devices for hundreds of end users, fixed jammed printers, remediated virus mayhem when someone in the C-Suite clicked on an email that released a lethal bug that spread like melting butter in a hot skillet...need I say more?

I find great joy in staying connected to people I share history with regardless of how long we labored together. 

Thanks for the discussion topic @Dave LIAO 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

Hi @Dave LIAO  and all,

Thanks for giving food for thought.

I tell you, the older I get, the more I will say that the truth lies in the middle.

With some, I'm still friends. With others, it hasn't sustained time, and we people tend to just at some point concentrate on ourselves and our lives and close some parts of our lives.

I'll tell you one thing I learned years ago: People who want to be present in your life, or you in theirs, will stay. The rest will go. That's how life is.

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

This is giving a shout-out to my favorite ex-coworker, @Arpi Kizogyan 💙

Jobs may change, but some coworkers are simply too good to leave behind!! 😍