BULLETINS FROM ALOHA

A particular arc of my life became unknowingly congruent with a guy I worked with four decades ago. I paid him a visit recently after a contact hiatus of twenty years between us. The visit brought more than simple recognition of compatible life equations. It brought to me ideas of a launching pad for new directions when my life equation could easily trail off -- trail off into oblivion as one approaches retirement (which I call ‘redeployment'). The message here is to value those who you work with while working with them for sure; more important is the embrace after. Here is a small part of that story, Morey's story.

Entry into the first job after college or graduate school; in this case, law school, can be cruel to work mates when that entry is characterized by one's hubris. I was such a person. Morey (not his real name) was my boss. My trajectory into his corner of the business world meant impatience, arrogance and selfishness on my part. Morey met the challenge of a troublesome underling with patience, understanding and humility. I was on fire. I was also into drugs, sex and rock/roll. After all, it was the 60's and post.

One can lead by example, by the whip or by thoughtful understanding. Morey did the latter. Our corporate work environment was usually laced with Midwestern values, so one could spread those wings and fly within reason in that positive work place. He let me and cautiously attenuated my crashes. It wasn't bruising, neither benign. Our mutual boss next up the line was, to use the phrase Morey used this weekend, a moral weasel. Our workday challenges were always met with obliqueness from him. If one excelled one expected a pat on the back and reasonable salary consideration. We got neither. It was because our bosses' interest centered on his own greedy aggrandizement and on no one else's welfare.

Years ago, after his retirement, Morey set off to study about his life's interests, history and the world of learning in general. In doing so, in an advanced university setting, he was met with the same daunting politics we suffered in the corporate workplace.

So, this last weekend Morey told me how this Machiavellian workplace vis-a-vis this particular previous boss of ours gave him the intellectual muscle to cope in his subsequent work environment and immersion into the world of academia. After retirement he studied for nine more dizzying years to receive two more degrees and a Phi Beta Kappa key, the highest honor one can achieve in the world of undergraduate liberal arts and sciences.

New Directions

In the torrent of words of our catching-up this weekend, I discovered that we both held an unslaked, powerful curiosity about what makes this world tick. Our verbal journey of mutual interest took us to all corners of Latin America, to the Middle East, to office politics, university politics and the dismal world of Bush politics. You see, Morey actually lived and studied in some parts of that world so brings a special data bank to the party. I want to go there, study and write too, so his tales were met with eager wide eyes. This weekend's brief tete-a-tete caused him to bring out reams of term papers spread over a nine-year course of study which I must read, critique or ignore. The stream of consciousness is overwhelming.

Another Morrie stressed the importance of giving back. He did not simply say we must learn to love, but stressed that we must learn to both give out love and learn to take it in. Furthermore, he explained that obtaining material wealth will never bring true happiness. In fact, the only way to be truly happy is by giving what we have – not only tangibles such as money for charity – but also our emotions, time, and efforts. These intangibles are priceless, the embodiment of what Morrie considered a meaningful existence.

Back to the arc. Four decades ago I could never have fathomed that Morey and I would have even one percent of these present mutual interests in this world of constant learning. Now, forty years later I see. Clearly. A work mate from forty years ago came to my curiosity rescue regarding this troubled world of ours this weekend and enabled me to see my new direction more clearly and aimed it better toward a more meaningful existence.