My colleagues are just that... work colleagues.  Aside from Barbie... I doubt... if truth be told... that I would be friends with any of them were I to have met them "outside" the workplace.  I don't particularly like any of them... I don't particularly get on well socially with any of them and I have very little in common with any of them.  Some of them are older... some younger... some quiet and polite.... some loud and obnoxious... but they are all just wok colleagues whom I don't really care very much about.  I don't "think" about them when I'm not at work.  I don't know if I can explain this properly or not but I think that pretty much sums up what I feel.  I'm under no illusions about how they feel about me either and I'm pretty sure that my feelings towards them are reciprocated. and it doesn't bother me in the least.  I don't look to them for approval nor do I concernn myself with what goes on in their private lives.

These feelings have changed somewhat in the past few weeks after being told of a potential serious health issue that my boss (NMDP) is going through.  Whilst not wanting to go into too much detail he is currently awaiting the results of a biopsy on skin cells and lymph cells that were taken last week.  He has been advised to stay at home by both his doctor... the managing partner and his wife.. and his own body because of the post-biopsy pain he is suffering in the wound.

What has been incredibly surprising is how attitudes towards him have changed.  Whilst a number of people are pussyfooting around and doing whatever they can to mollycoddle him and make excuses for him.. ... both myself and Barbie have decided that we will continue to treat him as we have always done... with the respect (not sure if that's the right word to use... maybe deference is better) that he deserves as our boss... but also with the huge amount of piss-taking... jollification and lunacy that accompanies our daily lives. 

Last week after his biopsy he took a few days off and stayed home.  Despite our reassurances he kept phoning in to the office to try to keep on top of things.  At one point he asked if he could have some files and... in the hope that if he had some files to cost it might mean he would relax and stop harrassing us.... I said I would pop out to his house with them.

What a shock to see him.  Whilst always accepting that he is some 14 years older than Barbie and myself he looked completely different.  The relaxed attitude at work means that we have often seen him in jeans and shirt... wet hair from swimming or just cycling in to work.. but to see him looking so haggard... tired... sallow faced... it was a complete shock.  I think we both hid our surprise well... effortlessly taking the piss out of him and joking around about the lack of cake to go with the coffee that he had to make us.  We even argued between ourselves over who would sit in the sunshine... NMDP declining the invitation saying that he really ought not to bearing in mind what he might have... or what the surgeon hopefully dug out. We even managed to take the piss out of the fact that he needs a haircut.  We had him clutching his chest with laughter (his wound hurts when he laughs apparently) and it wasn't until we had left him that we both retreated into an almost silent drive back to the office mulling over just how ill he looks. 

I should point out that he is an incredibly fit man... not a sun worshipper at all... swimming and cycling keep him in tip-top shape for a man over 50. We both agree that he looks ill most likely due to the lack of sleep and worry of what's going on with his body rather than what's actually wrong with him... but it was still a huge shock.  He hopes to be back to work after the Bank Holiday weekend.

I know that within a few days of his return to work we will be moaning and bitching about him... but until then I can't help but be worried for him.