One More Into the Breach...

So, I have to go back to my old company tomorrow. I'm not terribly excited.

It all came about because when I left my company, I made a joking comment to my ex-boss ("ex" being the key word) that he should use my new company to help him fill the programmer/developer position that he'd been trying to hire for months.

I made the comment mostly in jest. I mean, my boss wasn't exactly, um, nice to me when I left my old job. He wasn't exactly congratulatory about my new position and he didn't send me off and wish me well with the traditional going away lunch. In fact, the only lunch I did get was with my two coworkers, one of whom paid with a buy one-get-one-free coupon. This was nice of her except I realized that she'd actually owed me lunch anyway because we'd made a bet and I'd won.

The bet was actually to do with an interview candidate for the open programmer/developer job. We had several candidates in when I was still there and somehow, prior to us getting to meet the candidate, my coworkers and I got on the subject of "Which is your favourite mythological creature: Vampire, Zombie, Werewolf or Ghost." Then we got into symantics which lead to a discussion about whether it was blood thirsty creatures rather than mythological creatures in which case then we should add Vikings to the mix because, let's face it, they were pretty blood thirsty. It became an ongoing conversation and it came up yet again while the same group of coworkers and I were trying to come up with questions to ask the candidates. I made the joke of saying that we should ask them about their favourite bloodthirsty creature because that way we'd see if the candidate had a sense of humour. Thus, I was dared to do it. If I did ask it with a straight face and as though it were just a routine interview question, I got lunch.

So, of course, when the time arose, I asked it. The candidate liked zombies best, by the way.

He didn't end up getting the job but I got my lunch. Sort of.

Well, it seems that they didn't hire any of the candidates that they interviewed while I was there. They haven't had any good resumes. They want someone to fill the job.

This happens to be what my company does for a living. Thus, when my phone rang on Tuesday and it was my old HR manager on the phone, I was a little surprised. It turns out that my former boss had taken me seriously. He wanted me to come in and talk to them about assisting my old company with their candidate search.

Now, this side of things doesn't happen to be what I specifically do. Our account managers talk to the clients who are seeking candidates whereas I then help find the candidates to fill the job. I suggested that perhaps I set the HR manager up with a time to talk to an account manager. My HR manager was not having any of that. It seems my old boss had specifically requested I go in because I knew what they were looking for and though they'd speak to the account manager too, it's important that I go since, if they choose to hire my company, I'd be the one looking for the candidate.

This isn't actually true. It'll probably be me and our other recruiter. Still, it seems that I get to tread back on familiar ground and go back to the scene of the crime.

Also, now my old boss has invited himself along to our meeting. This means that, yay, I get to sit in a room with my old boss. Again.

I'm hoping that tomorrow when I go into my old building, it's not with that cold, sick dread of post-traumatic-work-disorder that sometimes follows some really bad job experience. I'm hoping that I don't suddenly feel the run into the bathroom to affirm that I should "LIVE TODAY, FOR MY LIFE IS NOW!" I'm hoping that I don't suddenly start wondering why I suddenly feel like I need a Mac computer in my life again or suddenly need to start singing like Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf .

Most of all, I'm hoping that I won't feel any inappropriately violent urges towards my old boss. I don't quite think I've had time to recover from my last days there yet. Any good psychiatrist would say it was far too soon to go back.

I wish I could say a secret part of me is excited to go back into the belly of the beast to see how it's doing without me. However, given that I see some of my old coworkers or at least talk to them fairly regularly, I have a fairly good idea. As I suspected, they're getting along fine. The coworker who inherited some of my duties is whining about how busy she is when, most likely, she's finally got a full workload instead of having nothing to do but wander around and socialize.

I think the fact that I'm still rather bitter about the whole thing speaks volumes about whether I'm really ready to go back. Give me a few months, I won't care. Give me three weeks....well, I'm already visualizing accidentally running over my ex-boss' feet with my chair. That is not a good sign.

Still, once more into the breach I'll go and hopefully come out the other side, more relieved than ever I left.

Then again, maybe I should go to that bathroom again. It did have have a jolly nice way of inspiring good decisions in me...such as running away to sanity.

Here's hoping the sanity remains tomorrow. Here goes nothing.

Happy Friday and have a good weekend.