This afternoon I bade my final farewell to GlobalSantaFe (formerly Global Marine and currently Transocean). After having a networking lunch with a benefits broker friend I stopped by the old GSF building at 15375 Memorial Drive. The main goal of my visit was to say goodbye to Kyna, who has been the receptionist for the company for the past 30 years. That's right - she's been the receptionist for 30 years. In this day and age it's pretty unusual to find anyone who's managed to stay with one company for that long. To find someone who's been a receptionist for that long is unheard of. Now you might be thinking: Why would anyone stay in a receptionist position for 30 years? Doesn't she have any ambition? Did she never want to move up into a better paying job with more responsibility? Didn't she get bored? If you knew Kyna you wouldn't be asking any of these questions.
Kyna is a people person, and I do mean a people person. She likes nothing more than to interact with as many people as possible - all the time and every day. Kyna always has a smile on her face. She makes you feel like the most important person in the world every time she sees you. As far as she's concerned she's had the best job in the company for all these many years because she gets paid to do exactly what she wants to do - greet people, make them feel welcome, and make sure they get to exactly where they need to go. I don't know about you, but I've never worked any place where I thought I had the best job in the company. If you had enough time to find out what everyone you ever met thought about you I'll bet you'd come across at least a few people who didn't like you very much. Not so with Kyna -nobody doesn't like Kyna. What's not to like? How many 4'10" people do you know who light up every time they see you? How many people - of any height - do you know who decorate their reception area - and I do mean decorate - for not just Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, but for Labor Day, Memorial Day, Halloween and the Rodeo? How many people do you know who spend time every day feeding the ducks in the lake in front of their building?
As we stood overlooking the now-empty atrium of our almost vacant building Kyna waxed eloquent about the good old days at Global Marine and then at GlobalSantaFe. She talked about the old feeling of family that existed, about how everybody knew everybody, and about how wonderfully approachable everyone was, from receptionist all the way up to the CEO. She talked about how much fun it was to come to work. She talked about how disappointed she was to watch such a great place fade into oblivion as it was lost in the world of Transocean. I told her that I had made my peace with what we'd lost and was moving on to whatever comes next. She told me that she hasn't done any such thing - that maybe some day she'll get to that place, but not yet.
We shared one last hug and then she was gone, back through the glass doors to her final assignment packing boxes, and putting things in order for the final exit of those lucky enough to still be there. Within the next few weeks everyone will be gone and the building will be closed. And the final vestige of a great place to work will be gone for good.
Good luck Kyna. We'll never forget you.
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