A Week at the Top

By: Lolo Anderson

Sunday wake up early to meet with church pastor. Don’t wake the family and meet at the coffee shop near our two houses. Go over any changes to list of songs and scriptures to have ready for Sunday service. Go home to wake the family to get ready for Sunday school.

The family included my young wife and our adolescent son and 3 grandchildren we were adopting, plus my mother-in-law. My wife had never been so busy yet so happy in her whole life. So many Filipino friends and so great with all the people at church. I really had some great friends from church as well.

My wife became close friends with the eldest son of a very famous comedian and actor in the Philippines. He had such a lovely family and we enjoyed so many meals together. Clear to say my family life was full and happy. Back to my week.

Set up the computer and overhead projector at the back of the church. Operate the screen to follow the songs and scriptures during the message. Every Sunday the greatest after service lunches. The whole church ate while the kids played in the playground. So many friends, so much Christian love for each other.

My home world was so full and rich with love along with only a few problems to deal with. Leave that part of my world behind and catch the 6AM ferry to the city. Sit with the same 2 friends every day, same seats. One was a programmer for Levi’s the other was a Marine Engineer building military vessels. Coffee and doughnuts only. Laptops for me and the other programmer doing our emails before work.

The three blocks walk up Market St to the Company headquarters at 345 Market St. Turn the corner at Beale St walk past the new General Office at 77 Beale St. The company operations department was so large they were located in a 34-story office building across the street. That is where I worked, 34th floor of 123 Mission St across the street from the General Office.

The truth is I had a corner office on the top floor that building. From my desk I looked down Mission Street to the Castro. To my right I was looking at the south windows of the General Office across the street. I was working on the personal staff of the senior vice president of operations. His office was at the opposite corner of mine. I wrote a whole chapter in my book at all the wonderful job assignments.

I was first name friends with him and his 6 vice presidents. I was responsible for gathering a number of safety and productivity data and delivering directly to the senior VP. I was part of his senior financial officer group. His compliance officers all called me the “wizard”. I was collecting data from all main frame financial and accounting systems as well as the GRID substation data systems. Pretty good for an old lineman.

Okay so far? So many wonderful things going on at home, so much pride in my job at work. Put that together with the worlds greatest work mate. I had so many really great friends at work my whole 51-year career. My general office time was no different. However, there was one very special young Chinese lady that made my time in the general office even so much better.

Maybe it was because we were both so happy and in love at home. Maybe it was because we both knew how to have fun and enjoy a good friendship with the opposite sex. As for me, I learned in high school when I was a cheerleader with 3 of the most beautiful girls how to be friends with girls. My G.O. (General Office) work friend was nothing less than a social bee.

Her husband was a successful architect and had more money than God. She commuted from her house in Blackhawk just to visit with her friends. She only worked for the interaction with friends at work. She always dressed so great. Always the newest office fashion complete with matching assories. She was very helpful with my work projects and all of the work stuff. Her knowledge of Customer Services and advanced Excel skills was really important to me. I asked her to edit all my screens and forms I was programming.

It was way more than real honest good work mate stuff. It was the fun and excitement we were generating in the office gossip that we both enjoyed. She was very aware of all the social circle G.O. gossip trail.

She was a cute little attractive Asian lady hanging out with this rough looking lineman working directly for the boss. She was a social bee Chinese lady that everybody knew in an office complex of hundreds of Asian ladies. Everybody thought we were secret lovers. I was proud to be eating lunch alone with her as the office guys walked by. She enjoyed making her girlfriend jealous.

What they did not know it was so much like my purple and white story about my cheerleader girlfriends. There never was and romance between us. It was just simple good friends enjoying each other. Telling stories to each other and making folks think there might me more was our entrainment making it even more exciting and enjoyable.

We would eat lunch together and with a small group of her friends. Everyone thought we were lovers and we were careful to keep stringing them on without ever actually ever touching each other. Standing in line with her friends we would talk about our families and spouses like the good friends that we were. Then I would lean close and whisper in her ear to notice the people looking at us over there.

We would sit alone together and talk so her friends could see us talking. What they did not know is that we were always telling each other stories about our lives. She wanted to hear about my hippy lineman stories and I wanted to learn about her Asian world. We would look into each other’s eyes when we talked. I’m sure folks thought we were lovers.

We had lunch at every great place all over the city. Mostly enjoyed the food court at the mall in the old post office. She could show off her make-believe work lover to all her friends. We both had a lot of fun and it made work all that more exciting. She knew all the best places to eat lunch. More important she knew people the knew people to get us the best prime lunchtime reservations at the best restaurants. Especially in Chinatown.

Then the work day was over and it was time for the ferry boat ride back home. The ride home was completely different that the quite morning ride to work. Smoking was only allowed on the open-air fantail of the jet powered ferry boat. That’s is where the same dozen commuters and me would be every day, rain or shine. They would drink wine and dance to loud music from their boombox. It was a party 5 days a week. Lots of tourist would come back and join in with us as well.

Step back into the most satisfying home life any man could ever imagine. My sweet wife managing everything at home. 4 adolescent kids a mother and a dozen Filipino friends. Time for bed and up at 5AM to go to work again.

Wednesday it was a day off to take the 3 grand kids to their therapy sessions in Napa. 3 one-hour session alone then one with all of us. The little girl had ADHD pretty well under control thanks to advice from the doctor. The older sister was the most well-adjusted of all. The brother was the same age as my son. I was so grateful they were best friends along with the next-door neighbor boy. Therapy became more important after their mother was shot and killed back in Tennessee.

Then in the morning go to work and enjoy all the excitement and fun at the top of 123 Mission Street. Lunch with my make-believe girlfriend and then party all the way home. Tough life.

Saturday take all 4 kids plus 3 extra next-door kids on a bike ride to the 7-11. Pack them all up in the big custom van and go to park or go fishing in Benicia. Wendy’s for lunch and maybe a movie. Meet with the pastor for outline of songs and scriptures so I had time to find everything.

Then get ready for another Filipino food party at movie star son’s apartment. One of the movie star’s sons had a guest at one of his dinners. Like all Filipino they were all taking turns singing to Karaoke. There was one simply gorgeous little Filipina that sang: Un-Break my heart that made the Toni Braxton version sound bad. Her passion and voice hitting all the high notes it was just wonderful. I heard later she was very successful back in the Philippines.

Typical Filipino picknick there would be dozens of people. Each family bringing enough food to feed all of us. Kids all playing games with the adults and mommies feeding their babies. Almost every Saturday it was a big Filipino party someplace. Always had time to go to the farmer’s market.

Just another week at the top of the world for me. To be respected and even admired by your peers is a great feeling to remember long after the General Office. The most important part of this environment of bliss is simple brotherly love between all my office mates.

My office “romance” was not done in secrete. I told my wife of every lunch and fun time I had with my office mate. We all had lunch together at her house in Blackhawk. Even my wife knew we were just good friends and they were kind of friends to.

It also gave us juicy talk about being in her house when standing in line next to other women at lunch listing to our every word next to us.

I feel sorry for all the guys that never learned how to be friends with office ladies. My time at the G.O. would have been so great but with my lady friend it was also exciting. Our relationship was always Platonic in every way. We both knew we did like each other and in another world we might have been lovers. That just added to the excitement for being together. I am so thankful she respected me as much as I respected her.

Maybe I’m just a boring simple guy that no one would be interested in. However, I have had a very exciting and full life. This was a quick summary of only one week. I am so grateful for so many readers for my life stories. The response has been so up-lifting to me. Almost 500 reads in the very first month since I posted my first story. My First Date story alone had had over one hundred reads already.

I tried my best to contact my office mate before posting this story. I hope it does not offend her. She should be proud of our relationship as I am.