No, don't worry, I haven't come down with some sort of psychological disorder. I am still mentally intact, although, depending on the day, I guess there are probably some friends of mine that might argue otherwise. :)
I got a phone call yesterday from the guy who used to work as the janitor/building manager in the same place that I work, totally out of the blue, just to wish me a Merry Christmas. It surprised me to see his name pop up on my cell phone screen, and it was wonderful to talk to him for a few moments and get to wish him a Merry Christmas as well. I went back to work for the afternoon, and as I was driving home, was thinking about the fact that, though I have great working relationships with the folks that are my coworkers, I don't feel like I know them quite as well as the ones who came before them.
You see, within the last year, roughly two thirds of our staff has turned over for one reason or another. Before the turnover, staff relations among the whole group were strained at best - there was too much under the surface between this person or that person, and group conversations or activities were almost impossible because of that. I'd always gotten along fine with everyone, but when you put the whole group in a room together, silence seemed to prevail...no one really had anything to say to anyone else. Not the best work environment ever. That was the case for the better part of two and a half years.
Then, things started to change. Some people left, new folks were hired...and the staff dynamics changed. Slowly. We went out for lunch together one day after two new folks came on - - and were actually talking together, laughing together, telling stories...which shouldn't be a big deal...but for this group, it was.
As I said before though, I don't feel like I have the same type of relationships with the new folks as I did with the old ones...and maybe, just maybe, that's ok. Maybe work is best left at work, and friendships are best made with those outside of the workplace...who knows?
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