Last week ended on a stressful note, as Ryan unexpectedly “left to pursue other opportunities”. Opportunities in a more external capacity; a horizontal promotion, as the euphemism goes. I wasn’t going to mention it, but since he’s posted the news publically in his journal, I suppose I can break silence a little.
The awkward thing for me is that I have no first-person knowledge of what happened or why; just a bunch of stories from people involved, and no real basis for deciding which to believe. I want to believe everyone, but the stories are (obviously) inconsistent. This makes it hard to do the right thing.
It’s all very bizarre and unpleasant, and I really don’t want to get involved. But at the same time, I’m kinda worried about Ryan. I’m not the only one concerned for him, and the atmosphere on Friday was very tense and unpleasant.
When I started at IBM I was very private. I’m a lot more relaxed now, though I still hold back from discussing all kinds of things with co-workers. I keep a rigid line between home and work e-mail, home and work web sites, and so on. I expect a few people think I’m just unfriendly, but after this past week I’m glad I’ve kept my mouth shut. I’m counting on the idea that if people want to read my web site or browse Usenet for my postings, it’s their own problem if they discover something that shocks or offends them.