Close of Play

It’s here; the end, or at least the beginning of the end.

I’m not going to say too much about how I feel. A few colleagues asked me if I were very emotional. Some, among the more forthright, asked me why I wasn’t bawling. I had no idea that I had established so firmly in their minds the, perfectly accurate as it happens, idea of my attachment to what we do here.

Instead of focusing on all that stuff I thought I would talk briefly about my leaving do. It was brilliant. Lots of people brought food; I’m not the big hungry giant by accident. Some staff from satellite offices came back to visit with me and crucially some didn’t. I’m not sure why but it was reassuring to know that my departure was part of the standard operation of things. That while I would be missed by some. I would not be missed by all. I would be promtly replaced and the activities of the enterprise would continue.

I found the sense of that strangely relaxing. Even those who occupy the most important positions are able to be replaced. It’s one of the things that makes me smile when countries go to inordinate lengths to preserve the life of their commander in chief. I know it’s inconvenient if something does happen to them but ultimately there is a chain of command in place. Should some mishap befall the person at the top then their responsibilities will fall to the next person in line.

As we say in England, “The King is dead, long live the King!”  That’s not because we have a universal faith in instantaneous resurrection or immortality, but instead there is a close recognition that when one person who happened to be the king or ruler dies that their role is instantly taken up by the next in line. The expression captures the idea that all loyalty and support also passes to the new incumbent.

I’m not the king. I’m a support worker to a small office in the East of London. But I was cheered by the idea that the small number of people I worked with and among would miss me and yet carry on regardless. Its the simple pleasure you can derive simply from things being as they should be.

I can’t wait to get started on Monday.

Word of the Day: Tabellion
- noun

1 – a scrivener or notary under the Roman empire or in France under the old monarchy