That old place, that memorable place...

I will eventually get to wrapping up my "Games and I" series of posts soon, just thought of reminiscing on other memories as well.

I never could say there was more a work place that left an impression on me than that one place in Kelana Jaya. I find the memories of it hanging on both ends of the rope, good and the... not so good. Never have I felt utterly drained of my being that when I was there, but never yet have I felt a sense of belonging than when I was there. It was neither a hell nor was it home. It was that place in between, a kaleidoscope of sentiments, a torrent of black and white.

Could it be said that it was a place that afforded me least benefits? No, I am certain by what I have seen since that other places would give back to you much less than that place. Nor can I say it has given me the most; I do earn more, in a way, where I am now instead.

If then it would mean that it was just an average place, then again I would have missed the mark. It was anything but average. It can get monotonous, but then which work place doesn't? But it did offer me something I find somewhat lacking in other places.

To be honest, I barely remember the specific deadlines, only the rough amount of time given to us for a particular work. I don't remember exactly when I had the most issues with the management nor when each of the time I felt like loosing my temper over how things were there. It's enough that I remembere there were such instances. That in itself is nothing new, for I still see that elsewhere.

I lost count on how many parties we had there, only that we did have quite a few. I don't remember specific awards was bestowed upon the place, or whether it was in my time or otherwise; only that it did gain its share of acclaim.

But I do remember the faces.

And the names.

There were (and some are probably still there) amongst the most memorable of people that I had the opportunity of meeting, for they all carried a flaw within them, some more pronounced than others, but it is sometimes those very flaws that one remembers fondly. They had character. They were unique people to say the least. But they were great. In over a year since I last left the place, there has been far too few people that truly remained as vivid a memory as the people there.

Some I was close to, some I barely knew, but all are part of the place; pieces of a puzzle that shows the greater picture. I remember them fondly.

Most especially, what I feel strongly in comparison to as I am now is that these people helped me. And helped each other too, even without even interacting with one another. There was a spirit of dedication there, not the obsessive purely concentrated kind but of the more calmer type that does not wish to dissapoint the next person. Whether or not I hated the work, I was compelled to excel anyways. And hate I did have plenty.

There is many things not to like about being there. Foremost as I said, why be there when you could get better rewards elsewhere? Secondly, most would not want to make it their home, but it was thrust upon us to spend so much time there, at work, when for the longest times the thought of being home was all that I could have at times. Why be there in a place that seems only to appreciate your hard work by rewarding you with even more work?

For the people I suppose. You are not perfect, in fact I have reasons to call out against many of them by specifics. But when absent for so long, and a picture of them, and of that old place surfaces, you cannot help but smile. And if you could do that, then for whatever the cause otherwise, I would think that you are, upon seeing that picture, reliving good memories. And in good memories lived these good people, all of whom the likes of which I have yet to know any who could replace any of them.

I worked through a kind of hell there, the likes of which I haven't encountered since, but I have never achieved more than what I did there afterwards. I spent far too much time there, robbing myself of my own precious personal free time, but I still cannot find myself to regret it. And I can bitch about many of them there each day, but I cannot but contain a smile at the thought of them now.

What I am saying maybe touchy-feely, but if one cannot be honest about ones own perception of fond memories, then when else to be honest?

I do not know what has it become today, how things have changed there. I would reckon quite a lot, even if some of the faces remain. But that old place, that memorable place... it is to me, today, a place of legend...