Facile Friday - Unfamiliar Faces

When I was younger, going to work meant going to a specific location and dealing directly with people.  When I say directly, I mean I would stand face to face with them and we would talk and joke and create a relationship.  Work is a bit different nowadays.

There are so many people that I feel like I know through my work who I may never meet or even know what they look like.  My entire idea about who they are comes from email and phone calls.  That seems so strange to me when I really think about it.  Now, I kinda like the idea that I can "know" someone who lives in a different city, state or country and yet our connection is the monitor in front of me and the internet or phone.

Here is an example...

Hey Barb, I am writing about you!

OK, so there is this woman that I deal with on a fairly regular basis.  She is the guru of all things factual and data driven in what I do from day to day.  The person that I have come to know is kind, funny and very personable.  When I speak to her on the phone she has a sweet voice and a wonderful laugh.  I really like talking to Barb, regardless of how that might be happening. Generally, when we "know" someone we have a picture of them in our mind that pops up when we hear their voice or see an email signed by them.  I have never actually met Barb so I have no real picture of her.  Guess what I did?  I made one up.

So I actually have a few pictures of Barb in my head that I use when I am needing to have a mental picture of her and they swap out depending on what our interaction is like from one moment to the next.  So my first view comes from Barb's sense of humor, I know her humor has to be really good because we communicate mostly through email and she can make me laugh at my desk...with an email!  I love that!

Maybe it is all in her delivery but I would bet you that Barb is a good cook and I scoured the internet to find a picture that got close to my idea of this version of her. The lucky winner on many fronts was this woman, Allison Luxenberg. She was the winner in 2010 of $1000 for her butternut squash potatoes au gratin. Doesn't she look like someone who would be fun to get to know?  

I KNOW that Barb is a wonderful gardener with a pond that I covet and some great ideas that I just might steal.  Here is my idea of "Barb the Gardener".  I bet she works her garden, water or otherwise, and is a force to be reckoned with when it comes weeds.

I also have a picture of Barb as the information warrior.  She is my, and many others, go to person for data, questions, direction, et. al.  I see her in her office juggling phones while firing off emails near and far and taking her excel spreadsheet to the limits of it abilities.  This is kind of my favorite picture of Barb.  You go girl!

The only dilemma that I can forsee is that the day that I meet Barb for the first time will be the day that all my other pictures of her disappear.  I am sure that she is much better than any of my current lot but I have to admit that it might be hard to give up the only woman I know who wears a kick butt suit of armor.

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