A few years ago I got the worst client in my career. A client so bad they almost caused me to quit my job, and IT entirely. One person instrumental in getting me through those two year was the mysterious and unknown "Smoking Lady".
The client was a small company, only a handful of people and a few consultants. The work was pretty interesting and their product could truly benefit tens of thousands of people. What made it challenging was the interpersonal issues with the client. The entire company genuinely felt like a marriage in serious need of counseling, maybe even a divorce, and I had been thrown into the middle of it. There were meeting where people, including the CEO would openly attack each other verbally in weird attempts to assign blame or responsibility.
This completely dysfunctional interaction spilled over to everyone working for them. You would constantly feel like information was being withheld with the express purpose of having you fail at whatever you had been tasked with. Without notice someone could explode in a tirade of anger directed at you, either for small oversights or for no reason at all. It was the most hostile work environment I ever had the misfortune to be part of.
Each night as I'd brush my teeth, I'd look out the window of my upstairs bathroom. Without fail, there she was: Smoking Lady, standing outside her small terraced house in the distance. Every night she'd go out to get the last smoke of the day, go back in and turn off the light. She felt like a source of stability and stillness. She had survived another day, and so could I. Smoking Lady will never know how much she contributed to my well-being by bringing in a bit stillness and calm into my nights. Helped me to a good nights sleep, despite of everything.
Thank you Smoking Lady.