Joel's boss.

Joel's boss-san.

Carpool, ex-work-boyfriend Joel has a very motherly boss. However, she markedly does not come off as the type to really mother people. In fact, I'm pretty sure Joel is the only one who is treated this way by her, which of course, completely warms my heart.

Every so often, he'll be on a conference call with her and some customers, and she will shoot him an email demanding that he add a "-san" to the end of the Japanese names to show respect and admiration, or something. Also, she will often send "good job Joel" emails out, CCing Joel's peers and other managers. Joel's peers generally then tease him for getting praise from "mom."

She sits far across the floor from him, right by me, which means that Joel's visits to my cube usually involve him carrying Drawings and Bits of Machinery. Joel will be the first one to admit that these are mere props to look important and busy. Instant A-game. I am completely within earshot of her frequent cackly laugh outbursts, the same cackle we used to slightly mock, but that was before I knew she mothered Joel. She is also the other main user of the famous female locker room, and we run into each other there often. It's always kind of awkward, because we never really talk outside of near-nakedness in the locker room. I don't work on any of her projects, so to her, I feel like I'm nothing more than the reason that Joel can't stay late and work more, and then all of a sudden we're taking off our clothes.

It's kind of hot when I put it that way.

She has some sort of eastern European accent, is the highest ranking female in engineering, would wear scruffy boys' clothes every day if we didn't have dress codes, snuck off and got married without anybody really noticing, and totally gets shit done at work. I think she's one of the most effective managers I've ever witnessed, even though she can seem like a frantic ball of stress. This post is my giant "good job Joel's boss-san" shout out to her.

Also, please note that an effective Joel Torture Method is, when walking past her office on the way home, to casually mention: "I saw her naked today."