Yesterday morning was interesting. My manager contacted me before 7:00am and wanted to know when we could talk privately. My first thought was 'I must be in trouble'. Our meeting started around 8:00am. He asked if I was OK. He was worried that the news about the government trying to set up rules negating the existence of those who identify as transgender may have put me in a bad mood. Well of course it did, but I was amazed that he cared enough to ask about it! We discussed it for about 30 minutes, and I assured him that I would be fine. I am still thinking about how lucky I am to work in a place where managers care this much.
Today was awesome. I started off by modifying some vendor code to smooth the rollout of our primary database software (IBM Db2 v12). It made our DBA's very happy.
Next I got an IM from a co-worker I had never met, she had just seen the video of my coming out story and wanted to thank me for having to courage to do it. She found it to be a very emotional story and said it really helped educate her on some of what we go through. By the way, a more recent estimate puts the number of local and remote attendees for the event at around 1300!
When I got home there was an overnight FedEx envelope waiting for me. I did not recognize return address. It was flat, and it wasn't ticking, so I decided to open it. Inside was a nice note from a parent of a softball player whose team I took photos for one weekend this past summer. She said the girls loved the photos, and she was hoping we may run into each other again next season. There was also a $200 gift card. I certainly hope to see her again too!
Finally my wife (Susan) and I went grocery shopping. While getting a case of soda, a lady came over and said 'hello' to Susan. It was a friend she goes walking with several times a week. I noticed Susan now had that 'deer in the headlights' look, it seems she had never told her friend about my transition! While Susan stood there trying to figure out what to say, I introduced myself. She was a bit surprised and asked a few questions, but I think she took the news pretty well. I think I know what Susan and her friend will be talking about the next time they go on a walk!
