Şapkayı alınız …

by tomsmedley (10/22/2004)

Şapkayı alınız...

April 30th was not a happy day at work. During a morning assembly, the president spoke of bear markets and bankruptcy. The firm filed Chapter 11 and laid off 120 people, including four of the five in my department.

 

In the exciting world of high tech, you get paid very well to accept these risks – and I think it’s a fair tradeoff. While giving my office a final cleanout that morning, I found a Dr. Seuss-style tiger-striped tophat. I wore said hat proudly while helping hand out information packets to fellow former employees, to jar people out of the vortex of gloom.

 

The last e-mail I sent to “ALL” expressed gratitude for the joy of working with so many helpful people, and included a Chesterton quotation: “If Cinderella says, ‘How is it that I must leave the ball at twelve?’ her godmother might answer, ‘How is that you are going there till twelve?’”

 

While erasing the whiteboard in my office, I encountered a few Turkish phrases that seemed prophetic. I added the translations, and left them up:

 

it ürür, kervan yürür. (The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.)

Bu yer boş mudur? Evet, boştur. (Is this place empty? Yes, it is empty.)

Şapkayι alιnιz, kapιyι açιnιz ve gidiniz! (Take your hat, open the door, and go!)