[職場] 亂世金山 Last Moments in San Francisco

上星期大概是我忙季以來最漫長又混亂的一週。舊金山進入就地避難狀態、公司關門、Mobility Team來的一封信要我們立馬跳上下一班飛機回家。我知道情況不好，但我不知道大家反應這麼激烈。匆匆改了機票壓三月底走，我終究沒能等到金山的四月天。

Hi All –

As you might have known, today marks the last day of my Global Exchange Program journey in the San Francisco office.  As a professional auditor writing this last email, I’ve been looking for the best template in the inbox of goodbye emails I collected. However, I eventually decided that nothing is more sincere than creating my own, so here it goes:

Arriving in San Francisco 18 months ago with two large suitcases, I didn’t know what was ahead of me. I had never imagined meeting so many intelligent people, working on so many interesting engagements and building so many valuable connections. Neither had I imagined leaving everyone and everything so abruptly given the current unstable situation. With the office closure and the city lockdown going on, I wanted to try my best to express the THANK YOUs virtually. Thank you for encouraging me when I was down, guiding me when I was lost, giving me opportunities when I looked for one, forgiving me when I made mistakes and hanging out with me when I needed companions. It is you that made me believe EY is about connecting people and building a better working world.

When I joined EY in 2015, the firm was talking about ‘Vision 2020’ on a daily basis. Back then, I used to think of ‘Vision 2020’ as a branding slogan and never envisioned what myself or EY would turn into when 2020 comes. Looking back now from 2020, I am amazed by how much resources I’ve obtained from the firm and how much professionally and personally I’ve grown throughout the years. I wouldn’t have gone this far without the support I received from all of you. Till today, I still can’t believe that the random encounters in the office with some of you a couple of weeks ago was our last time to meet in person before I depart. It breaks my heart to finally acknowledge that I am not able to say proper goodbyes to most of you.

Fortunately, different from most goodbye emails you might have received, I’m not leaving EY. I will be starting work back in my home office (Taipei) at the beginning of May. You are still able to connect with me via Skype/email (CC’ed in this email), and you are always welcome to ping me with questions lol.

十八個月前第一次來到舊金山，一眼就深深愛上這個雲霧繚繞卻又五光十色的城市。我堅持要住在城裡，忍受著高房價和遊民，就是為了感受她的魅力。十八個月來，看著世界各地的騷動不安，跟著傷心跟著激昂，但現實裡我們仍過著小日子，討論著下一場運動比賽和下一餐要去哪一家新餐廳。我從來就以為亂世只在電影裡或新聞上，一直到十八個月後看著空蕩蕩的街道、每天以前所未有的高頻率收著各種公司的alert，才明白你我皆是亂世人。

亂世裡，公司關了，還電腦要靠無人locker。口罩兩個月前就賣光了，我搭飛機的口罩還是staff冒死在封城中贊助我的。外頭什麼店都沒開，同事美甲店索性給我包場，讓大家給我送行，還有同事特地搭了好久的車帶著手繪卡片給我。我用提早離開的死線逼著主管們給我feedback，竟然收到忙到開請勿打擾的Senior Manager寫出如memo般長達一頁半公司系統根本放不下的推薦感謝文，以及寄出last email後各種大小老闆同事下屬的感謝回信——不是罐頭感謝信，在這種混亂時刻還能夠隨手寫下的，都是曾經用熬過的長夜、崩潰的案件，一筆一劃刻在心頭的話——例如想起我在某個熄燈的加班夜駕輕就熟的教大家打電話給中控系統開燈。我突然很想哭——除了因爲收行李收到懷疑人生——在這個職場裡，我不過盡己之責，而我得到卻是在亂世裡用生命燃燒的真情，我何德何能？

今晚舊金山下起小雨。往機場的路上往車窗外看，街頭沒有上下班的人潮、沒有年輕人在露天座位小酌，每個平時大排長龍的店家都放上了關門的表示，分外寂寥——我突然不忍再回頭。大家都說要用最優雅的姿態道別，我情願在我心中的舊金山依舊如初見般美麗、錦繡般繁華。

在亂世裡，我終究沒能在那個秏我青春的辦公室用最俗氣的方式和同事在logo打卡。翻了手機，找到了一張我忙季週末時隨手在辦公室拍下的照片——那是我最喜歡的一面牆，而牆上的話非常適合今天的註腳：
"One day if I do go to heaven...I'll look around and say, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'"

晚安，舊金山。