I’m the only person in my office under 50. When I first started everybody told me to watch out for this guy. He was pretty open about his constant drinking and smoking (cigarettes and marijuana) and had a very abrasive personality. For some reason though I liked him right away, and I think he liked me too, he told my supervisor he thought I was smart.

He used to yell and just rage at everyone, call them names, call them stupid and every creative insult that you can think of. Was not that good of a guy to almost everyone. But it was never directed at me, the bright eyed and bushy tailed woman right out of college. The one time he gave me guff was when I asked for his advice because there was a problem in his department, and when he started in on me I immediately said “I don’t have time for this shit,” and left his office and went back to the situation I was handling. And it got handled. He never said a mean word to me again and I heard through the office grapevine later that he really respected me for that.

Well, all that drinking and smoking and stress of being an asshole caught up to him, I guess. He found out he had cancer and it got bad fast. He changed a lot- I think it hit him that his time was running out, but too late. I think he alienated just about everyone but me, I was one of the only people that spoke to him on friendly terms. I even brought him some of my favorite books to read during his chemo treatments. One day at work a few months ago he collapsed and never came back. And I got word from my supervisor in an email that he died this morning.

One of the first times I was warned about him was when I was brand new and having lunch with another coworker at Chili’s, and we spotted him at the bar throwing back margaritas. She made it sound really scandalous but I didn’t care. Let the man have a nice lunch break, geez. I saw him there a few more times over the years on especially hard work days.

So today on my lunch break I went to Chili’s, threw back a margarita and had a steak in his honor.

I’m glad he’s gone. He was a really unhappy man and you could tell he was in an unimaginable amount of pain at the end. If there’s anything after this life, and I believe there is, I would like to think he’s pain free and being an asshole to some rookie angel who isn’t doing their job right. Rest In Peace, man.