Today we have staff lunch. We’ve been doing this the first Wednesday of the month for a year. Most of the Barclay Press staff work part time and some of that work is done outside of the office. We are never all at the same place at the same time.

I like the people I work with. Coworker has a good connotation for me. As I think back to 1962 when I entered the workplace first with a summer job and then an after-school job, I start recalling names accompanied with positive memories and influence: K.C., Helen, Mike, . . . Agnes, Jack, Herb, Ray, Loren, Larry, Gene, Vi, Bill, . . . Harlow, Dick, LeRoy, Gertrude, Betty, Ed, George, Denis, Eva, . . . John, Lem, Jean, Tim, Jim, Debbie, Donna, Duane, Karen, Robert, Nan, Lu, Audrey, Steve, . . . Jack, Stan, Les, Jean, Janelle, Susan, Alice, Sharon, Mike, Jennifer, J.V., Katy . . . Jay, Heather, John, Vincent, . . . Kati, Liz, Paula, Dan C., Ron, Sierra, Bruce. This is only a partial list, but it reminds me to be thankful for the people I’ve worked with and the special place they hold in my life.

My sympathy goes to people for whom coworker means people who have to be endured.