Jack (not his real name) was my co-worker in Cisco Ottawa R&D site. I worked there for 10 full years and about 8 years in the same group. Jack was in that group for 7 years.
Ottawa was and probably is still called "Silicon valley north", versus the real Silicon valley in San Jose CA.
The boss of my group was a German immigrant, he only hired experienced workers and only men (I was in the company before him, he just took me and another guy he knew well from Nortel, when he formed the group). He was very knowledgeable and sharp, friendly to us but also very demanding and rigid.
Jack was hired about half a year later after the formation of our group. His cubicle was next to mine, both window facing. He was very quiet and a heavy smoker, my super sensitive nose often smelled cigarettes + candy mixture when he passed by. But that didn't bother me. He was a good coder, dependable and delivered his part on time, we all got along well.
We were a small and tight group and developed a small router (with Cisco Ottawa hardware and testing groups), the very first router in Cisco Ottawa then, and it sold very well for two years. But for some reason, the Cisco headquarters in San Jose decided to stop adding features and move its support to India. We all were upset and wondered if there was anything we could do to stop the transfer.
One day, the normally very quiet Jack sent out an angry email to the group, saying that there are some machines trying to control us. Then one co-worker in the group told me quietly that Jack has bipolar and he must have forgotten to take medicine that day.
I felt very sorry, so I composed an email and sent it to the division director and VP with all of our names listed (except the German boss, as he couldn't be involved in a grassroots action). That letter might have delayed the transfer for a few months, but didn't stop it.
Jack was even quieter after that. He joined group activities less and less, and started to take more and more sick leave. Being the only female in the group, it was me organizing card/gift purchasing and visiting for birthdays, new babies and good wishes. But I couldn't do much for Jack, other than mailing cards on behalf of all of us to his home (he lived alone).
Then one day, someone told me Jack was let go. I was shocked and went to check with my boss. He said yes, "but Jack is sick", I said. The boss didn't say anything anymore.
I left the company half a year later. To this day, I still remember the smell of Jack's cigarettes + candy mixture. But I never heard from him again.
Jack, hope you are doing okay, wherever you are now ... ...
