Over the past five months I have had the honor of working again with a true friend. I met Derek Law over three years ago when he joined the team at my old store. He had worked for the company for six years when I met him. Fast forward to the present, and he is now my boss. I have loved every minute of working under him. During the last three years I have watched a boy wrestle with manhood. I have watched a party animal awkwardly stumble through the emotional battle grounds of being a father. I have shared great days at work with him... And we have waged war against the demons that followed our divorces. Behind his stupid smile lay wounds that have never healed, and his howling laughed hides pain that life have piled on his shoulders.Let me be honest (forgive me Derek), Derek has one of the foulest mouths my ears have ever been exposed to. He can combine words that I would have never dreamed could fit in the same sentence, much less be united to become foul words. Derek has done things in his life that you only see in movies (the kind mothers hope their children never see). Derek can sound and act like the biggest jerk you could ever meet. He can be too abrupt at times; to the point in hurts when you walk away from him. His personal life can be tragic at times. He has trouble communicating what he really wants to say, but it never stops him from talking... And talking. But, with that said...
I would give my life for this guy. I can handle the mounds of foul language, because he is the most honest person in my life. He will tell the truth, even if it makes him look like a jerk . It is no secret, to anyone who takes the time to listen to him, that Derek's life is a little screwed up. He knows it, but why is he so honest about it? I am not saying he is only honest to his "inner circle" (or puts it on a blog because he couldn't stand the thought of being totally honest in person), his entire staff that works under him knows that he has issues. Why does he make this known even to those who would use it against him if they ever got the chance? Or those who don't give a crap about anyone, just so long as they get paid?
I am one of Dereks biggest fans. I want him to be the best father Diggy ever has knowledge of. I want Derek to be the best partner in any relationship he finds himself in. I want Derek to continue to be one of the best friends I ever have. I want him to be the best boss anyone who works with him speaks of. More than anything I want Derek to know my Jesus. But, I never want him to loose the honesty the makes him so enduring to those who look closely at the mess we call this life. I will never forget the day I watched Derek (in a true moment of vulnerability) pour his heart out to one of his employees about how he was having trouble managing a store and the pain of being a single father, and she brushed him off like dirt on a clean white floor. She didn't want to understand because it gets too messy. It takes too much time.
Life is messy. Words are printed in black and white, but life is full of grays. There is nothing clean about any of us. I am dirty from head to toe from all the crap I jump into. We are all broken...even if we act like we are pieces of art. Give me a break, all of those who whisper behind close doors, all of those who hind behind masks... the truth is not easy... but it is the most effective currency known to man. There is more to people than what we see at the work place, and there is more that goes into a persons preformance than the events that happen once we punch the time clock. Is there any understanding worth extending to others? Or, is our personal life more important. (man, I sound bitter... but I feel more defeated than angery or bitter.)
No comments:
Post a Comment