Jay, Jay, Jay…Coffee, coffee, coffee?

How we met:

Jay and I met at work. He had worked on this project for about 2 years before I arrived, but little did he know his life will never be the same after meeting me.

Was it love at first sight?

Absolutely not LOL. I didn’t even know who Jay was the first 2 months. Jay sat in this corner cubicle and he came in around 10 AM and I started work around 7 AM to beat traffic. I was so busy understanding the project, I never really met Jay. One day, someone said I needed to ask Jay for access to a system and I walked over there. Jay had his noise cancelling earphones on and he scares very easily, so our first meeting was him jumping out of his seat. As much as we try to give him notice, but when he’s in the zone nothing can disturb him and he will literally jump out of his seat. Kalinka’s favorite hobby was to purposely scare him, but I was always afraid he would have a heart attack.

I think Jay was probably happier never meeting me and living a more quiet life, just kidding, he absolutely loves me and I bring endless laughter in his life. I was close with everyone on my team, but maybe because I worked so closely with Jay, we became inseparable. Every morning, the first thing Jay did was drop his keys and phone on the desk and then say Linda, Linda, Linda…Cawfee, Cawfee, Cawfee. If I didn’t answer, he would come over and stand next to me until I went with him. There would be days when I would just sit at his desk working on my tasks while he worked on his, we had a special chair that he kept there for me.  He hates when I take random pics of him and he hates filters even more.

He absolutely hates having his pictures taken, but he finds it hilarious to take picture of me without makeup on.

Favorite Moments:

There are so many moments…

• Galam Gab. This is unforgettable and probably Jay’s favorite moment. Rama, my carpool had brought me homemade dessert. This is a very popular Indian dessert, so when Jay got into the office, I pinged him that Rama made galam gabs and that I wanted him to try one. Jay responded that he wasn’t quite sure what I was offering him. I said, it was probably my horrible spelling and sweet sweet Jay told said that it was probably his ignorance. So I looked up the dessert, which was actually gulam jamun and sent it to him. Next thing I know…Jay is telling everyone the story and how he thought I was referring to something in Lord of the Rings. He has repeatedly asked me to go up at Indigo and ask for Galam Gabs.
• Did you know we are opposites? From the first day we met, I knew Jay and I were opposites, it took him a little longer. I cannot recall what provoked him to say we were opposites, but one day he came to my desk and asked if I knew. I said of course and I made a list of how we are opposites. Oh boy, was it long!
• North, South, East, West. Jay believes that everyone should know directions and it’s easy. For him it is easy, for people who are directionally challenged we need landmarks! He loves to ask me which way I’m facing and give me four guesses.
• You won’t like that. One day, we were coming back from Indigo and Kalinka and I wanted coffee. We were going to go to Starbucks, which Jay is NOT a fan of, especially the one by our office. He says it is smelly. We were passing Colombe Coffee and Kalinka said let’s go in, I said ok. Jay immediately turned to me and said, “You won’t like that.” He doesn’t believe I appreciate the taste of real coffee. I was so upset because he should let me make my own decision, so I told him how do you know? I went in and had a sip of Kalinka’s coffee and I didn’t like it, which made the entire situation very enjoyable for Jay because guess what…he was right again.
• Sam. Jay just loves making fun of Sam and his crush on me. He calls everyone with facial hair Sam. Sam 1, Sam 2, Sam 3, 4, 5.
• She ran like a kangaroo in the rain. I have a love/hate relationship with rain. One day we were walking back from coffee and it sprinkled. I honestly didn’t care where Jay was, I ran! Jay was dying because he said, I ran like a kangaroo. Hop, hop.
• Polar bears and penguins. Jay believes we all learned this in elementary, but not everyone knows that polar bears are in the North Pole and penguins are only in the south. You would think that penguins can go where it’s cold, which are on both poles!
• You didn’t fill my water? We were at our usual spot…Potbelly and I think I was on some diet at the time and I asked Jay for a cup for water. Jay brought me an empty cup. I asked him where my water is. He’s like you asked for a cup, but I was like you are right there to fill it. The boys laughed and said something like yeah Jay, you should have known better. He should have run away right then LOL.
• Where are my toppings? One day Jay was getting my sandwich at Potbelly. He asked what I wanted, I said TKY, light mayo, mustard, no jalapenos, cut into fours. So Jay got me exactly that, a very sad sandwich. When he brought it to me, I just opened it up and said where the rest of the toppings are?  He eats lunch with me everyday, how does he not know that I like lots of toppings?
• Patient 0. I was pretty sick several times through the year. I have a weak immune system, especially weak lungs! One day I was sick with bronchitis and came in, Jay tried to avoid me like the plague and made me put a mask on. I told him if he got sick from me, he has a baby immune system.
• I’m so cool! I don’t need to badge! For our building, you had to badge in, but you don’t necessarily need to badge out. There were a few times I got stuck and had to re-badge and those days made Jay so happy. His favorite moment was my last day at work. When we were walking out, I didn’t badge out, so I got stuck and then when I badged, Jay decided to block the opening, so I got stuck twice. I am pretty sure the guards thought he and I were so immature.
• The fear of revolving doors. I struggle with revolving doors when they go fast. I’m not sure why, but I always take a deep breathe before going in. Jay thought it would be so funny to push the doors hard to scare me.
• There are no ghosts! I have a very irrational fear of ghosts. I am scared of them, but I’ve never seen one. Jay and Chris strongly state that ghosts do not exist. There is no scientific fact that they do and Jay also asks, if by chance they do exists, why are they mean? Why can’t ghosts be nice? So, to prove the guys wrong, I said that Juanita believes in ghosts and if she believes in ghosts then it’s golden! Well, I just assumed she believed in ghosts because we are so similar, well they asked and Juanita said no. Oh I never ever lived that moment down.
• Jay, you’re right. His favorite phrase for everything.
• Jared Kushner. One day we were talking at lunch and Jay and Chris brought up Jared Kushner. I thought he was talking about a buddy of his. Trust me, they died laughing.
• Pepperoni. I cannot explain this one, but everyone knows pepperoni.
• No one saw me, I’m like a cat! I was walking into the building with Jay and somehow I fell. I thought I got up so fast that no one even saw me including Jay. He’s like Linda everyone heard you, it was a big thud and you were on your knees.

3 Best Qualities:

• Humor. My favorite thing about Jay is his laugh! If you ask Jay, he thinks he is the most hilarious person in the world. Sometimes, he is really funny, but even if the joke is a flop, he will laugh so much that it will make all of us laugh.
• Kindness. One of Jay’s best qualities is his kindness. He is one of the most generous people I have ever met. Obviously, I am biased because I am the recipient of many of Jay’s kind gestures, but you really won’t find someone kinder than him. He is kind to everyone he meets from the barista that makes his daily coffee to his friends that he has known his entire life.
• Knowledge. Jaylexa as I call him is a wealth of knowledge. I don’t know how Jay knows so many things. You can ask him anything from science, literature, history, to current news and he will know the answer plus much more. He always has bonus facts that he adds in. The only thing I ding Jaylexa on is his lack of pop culture knowledge.

My Most Grateful Moment:

Again, there are so many moments that I cannot express how much Jay means to me. He was my rock during the worse times at work. There were days after Kalinka left where I was close to breaking and Jay would just take me aside and calm me down. At one point, I was under so much pressure at work I would wake up sick and not understand why, it made Jay worry. He knew that it wasn’t fair to put so much pressure on one person, so he tried to help where he could.

JAYYYY…LOVE YOU LONG TIME!  Thank you for being my best friend, but there were moments that you failed as my BFF because you wanted entertainment!