Wandering CAOs

My stint at the Corporate Affairs Office - or CAO - of SMC is one of my shortest work stints. 

It was my second job and my first supervisory position. They asked me to head the internal broadcast group, and I had to write, direct, edit and supervise a gamut of audio-visual projects. I also had to travel a lot, and meet so many people in a month. And the most peculiar of them all, the staff under me were the same staff who were also under my Dad. 

Despite being in CAO for just a year, I made some of my best friends in that office. When stress was too much to bear (and believe me, there was so much stress,) I always had a support system who'd be there to listen to me rant. Those rant sessions were always accompanied by food, which added comfort.

It was a support system that was composed of such wonderful people. Among them: Kin, Jing-jing, Elsie, Mac, Lu-Ann, Joannah, Marla, Sir Pie and Maricar. It was a group that was so tight knit, we'd gravitate towards each other even after we all went our separate ways. 

It's been almost 20 years since I left SMC, but the CAO gang is still very much together. From random lunches to instant birthday celebrations, from sandwich parties to Christmas reunions, from impromptu get-togethers at Sir Pie's house to slightly-impromptu overseas trips like our SG visit last week.

What never ceases to amaze me is the fact that whenever we're together, it feels like we're back in our corner office in SMC-HO. The conversations, stories, flashbacks, jeers, and everything in between, they feel so familiar. It's as if we never left the office, and it's as if it's the 90s all over again. (And I mean that in a good way.)

Before we left SG, we made a pact to have another overseas get together sooner than later. We haven't decided on the location yet, but with this group of friends, I'm sure it'll feel very familiar.