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A quick plane hop, and I was back in Berkeley, at the Geoworks offices. I'd slipped the door guard a cookie and emerged into the entryway of my former employer. Ron had sent out mail saying when my flight would get in, mentioning that I had cookies, and that I'd be up for dinner. Thus, I strolled into Dave Loftesness' office, bold as brass, bearing a paper bag damp with moist goodness.
Dave said Hi. I said Hi, I brought cookies, was wondering about dinner. Dave said cookies are great, and dinner would be soon--Cathy Chen was in town, visiting from Michigan. Coolness. I asked Dave if there'd been any word on the Geoworks front.
Dave asked me if I'd read my mail. I allowed as I hadn't.
Dave made a little frown. Sounds of Quake filtered in from around the office.
Dave said that a third of the Berkeley office was getting laid off. The remainder of the office was being moved to corporate HQ in Alameda; this would probably prompt half of the remaining people to quit.
I gaped. I gulped. I think I said "Uhm." I think I said, "Jeez. That, like, really sucks."
Dave nodded.
My thoughts whirled. Wasn't one supposed to look on the bright side? Wasn't one supposed to buck up? I looked around for some good news.
"Well, hey, lookee here. I brought cookies," I said. I reached over, crinkled the bag a little. Dave gave a somewhat pained smile. I gave up on trying to find a bright side. We talked a little bit more about the situation, about the executive thought processes which must have gone into this decision. I can't report this part of the conversation--my separation agreement says that I can't say disparaging things about Geoworks.
After a while, I said, "Dave, this conversation is just too depressing. I'm going to go watch people kill each other at Quake for a while" Dave replied, "Yeah, enjoy the Quake game. That's what I was doing while I was procrastinating on this." He gestured at his computer screen. He continued: "I'm deciding who to lay off." Dave's not a very expressive guy. He plays things close to his chest. But he looked at me as he said that, and his eyes were two of the saddest I'd seen in a long time. I turned and fled to Morgan's cubicle, sat and watched Quake, made small talk, and didn't cry.
We dined at Cha Am. The only one of us who wasn't looking for a new job was Paul Du Bois, who had already found one. Cathy Chen was excited. She'd met a possible employer at the convention she was attending. She wanted to come up with a resumé that night. "Maybe we could have a workshop," she said.
Postscript:
A few weeks after I got back, amazon.com paid Geoworks $5 million,
essentially buying Seattle Geoworks. This was undoubtedly quicker than
just hiring one Seattle Geoworker each month.