This has been a happy week of get-togethers with old and new friends for me, to celebrate past and new experiences as we laugh and reflect over things we had done.
The party started on Tuesday. A generous ex-colleague had been sponsoring an annual get together of Treasury colleagues who have worked in the American bank over a 30+ years period.
Thanks to technological tools like WhatsApp, we have been able to connect with many others via the grapevine approach. Instead of just one administrator to the chat group, everyone has administrator rights to add new participants. The maximum is 299 and we actually hit that number 2 years back! One can join or leave whenever you want too.
To spice up the nostalgia this time, we encouraged everyone to post photos or videos of our time in Citibank. The Treasury team had started in the late 1980s till today, so there are 3 distinct periods of time where people came and left : (1) before 2000 (UK ERM, AFC, Russian meltdown), 2000 to 2008 (Y2K, Tech bubble, 9/11, GFC) and from 2009 till today (Global easing, banking downsizing, Trump).
After 2 days of sharing, we had 80+ RSVPs and it felt like this will be a record reunion. Tuesday evening came and we have people streaming into the big hall in a private club that was booked for the event. With a buffet and free flow of beer and wines, it quickly became a big and boisterous class reunion of sorts.
There were so many people I knew and have not caught up with in years. I just moved around and said hi to everyone, taking pictures to post in the chat and reminiscing about things we had done in the past – some crazy and politically incorrect stuff which would have been shocking in today’s PC world.
We probably had at least about 100 persons that night. The total number of years of work experience that we accumulated within the room that evening was easily 1,000 human years. Throw a stone in the room and you would likely hit someone who had spent more than 30 years in Citibank. The record was 43 years. Imagine starting your career with the first job and working till you retire in the same company! It is really unheard of nowadays as millennials believe that you have to constantly move on to gain experience.
Personally, I was in the bank for 19 years that covered 3 departments within Treasury. The life long friends and incredible business network that I acquired had enabled me to accomplish goals will would be unimaginable elsewhere. I struggled to assimilate in my last 2 jobs after Citi. Before I could establish a new network, circumstances had pushed me out of the toxic environments. This had made me realise how valuable a network I had lost when I left Citi.
A gathering of ex-colleagues and old friends with a free flow of sponsored booze really drove up the nostalgia meter for all of us. We reconnected, talk about the crazy shit we did and the impossible situations we experienced in the midst of the various financial crisis over the years.
At times, we really thought that we had reached the end of the financial world but surprisingly, the world would spring back to life again. The stress we went through made us much stronger in the end. Been there, done it. We became jaded, having seen it all. Yet nowadays, the new world does not seem to value work experience anymore as the machines and AI seek to replace the slower humans.
That evening, we collected yet another memory of another happy and successful annual reunion, hoping to have many more in the future. It amazes me that I had worked for almost 29 years now as I face the tail end of my career. I am indeed proud to have been a part of this ecosystem of people who had contributed to my rich work experience.
For the rest of the week, Thursday was another 2 celebrations of sorts. Lunch with a group of buddies – our regular get together for a 4 hours lunch. No matter what, we always have things to discuss and share as the flow of the wine and whisky happens. The get-togethers recharge all of us.
In the same evening, I had another event with new friends we had gotten to know during the recent China tour we went in Apr. My wife and I met like-minded people in our age group who enjoys their drinks. One of them decided to organize a meeting this evening and I suggested a drinking hole within walking distance from my home. It was a nice catch up with live band performances.
At this point in our life, it is always good that we continue to expand our circle of friends. We need to make an effort to meet new people to enrich our second half. There is an easy tendency for one to withdraw into a hermit lifestyle and stay in a cocoon. We have to resist that. At the same time, we must treasure the life long friends we had made by constantly reaching out to them on a regular basis. With the arrival of social media, this has made the job easier.
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