Allow me put forth a scenario. There’s a person you’ve associated with for a while. Long enough for you to be comfortable with such that you can say inappropriate things and not give it a thought. Such thoughts include whether this person will think you’re a prick or lack social etiquette. In return you accord this person the same respect he/she’s offered you and not judge them on what he/she says however off-handed it might be. So this relationship that’s been built over time allows for conversations where there is little need for formalities. It would then be safe to say that it would be quite odd when said person calls you up in the middle of the night sounding atypically polite as if with care when walking barefoot around broken glass.
I found myself in this scenario when I received a call from our overseer Dave up in Wisconsin when I was still employed in Dallas. I’d just come back from vacation in Angelfire (New Mexico). I was tired and unkempt. I received the call as I was about to get in bed. He was uncharacteristically polite. He was not generally impolite. He was just never polite in the manner where you would be putting forth your best impression on first meeting a complete stranger. The gist of the conversation albeit one-sided went like this [paraphrasing]:
I don’t know how you’ll take this but upper management has decided to move production of the product line you’ve been supporting up to Waukesha (Wisconsin). Of course, we’d also need someone to support the product and that person would have to be located in Waukesha. We’d like you to be that person. You’re a very good engineer. We know that you’d be very capable working for anyone else. Please give our offer a consideration.
Half an hour later I received a call from my boss in Dallas. He put forth pretty much the same thing Dave did. He complemented me on the work I’d done thus far for the company. He’d also like me to consider the offer.
I said the only thing I could to both of them. “Okay. I’ll think about it. G’night.” The thoughts that swirled in my head was more nuanced than what came out of my mouth. However nuanced all of my thoughts may have been, they were all tinged with emotion. Fear was the primary one that blanketed all of them. Fear of an uncertain future that just spread itself out before me. It was always there of course. I was just afraid to look. Consequently, I went to bed that night with an uneasy feeling. So began the Second Era as I now retrospectively call it.