Goodbye and Good Luck
The time has come to say goodbye. As you may or may not know, I have chosen not to have a party. The reasons for this are many. It is very hard to capsulize 32 years of service with SSA into a 2 or 3 minute thank you speech. As Al Jolson said to his audiences many years ago, make yourself comfortable, we're going to be here a while. Therefore, I will use this WEB site to say adieu.
The gift that I will take away from my SSA career is the priviledge and honor of having served you, the SSA family. During my tenure as Division One SYSCO, there was no greater gift than having someone thank me for repairing their workstation. The fact that some people actually requested ME to look at their machine was extremely flattering. Kind of like going to the barber and waiting for Luigi to be free.
Over the past 32 years, I have heard many others say their farewell. The most common phrase people use is "I won't miss the place, but I'll miss the people". The people in fact do make the place; kind of like, you are what you eat. I do, however, understand what they mean. In all honesty, there are some truly wonderful people here who I will miss. Not to use names, but you know who you are; Prof. Harold Hill, sahnd cat, kiosk, Ms. Uno, the juggler, Karl Malden, my favorite CA, come walk the wheel, the cookie queen and of course the one and only puzzle master who can eat the same sandwich for 5 days straight. But wait, how can we forget the man of 1000 costumes? If the PSC has a morale officer, it is him. These are but of few of the people here who make the office what it is and have helped to make my years as a SYSCO enjoyable.
I would like to say a special goodbye to my fellow SYSCOs and other "techie" types on the 11th floor. For the past 9 years we have been family, albeit at times more Addams than Cleaver, but nonetheless family. We worked together tackling problems, crises and projects. Whatever came up, we dealth with it. There was NEVER a problem that we did not have resolved as quickly as humanly possible. That is a true testimony to the various strengths of the members of our group.
Many of you have stopped me as I make service calls around the building to tell me that you'll miss me and to wish me well. Your kind thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks to all of you who have made my years here pass by so quickly. Time seems to drag as it moves by, but in retrospect, everything seems like the proverbial "life flashing before your eyes".
So, this is not really goodbye, but cya.
Be happy, be healthy, long life.
Rich
PS: Check back here often, the content will be updated on what I hope will be a regular basis. Yes, the e-mail link does work. Got a problem, just want to say hi, send me an e-mail.