Many years ago, friends and colleagues began suggesting that I should write down or somehow record the strange, humorous, and often downright surreal situations I faced during my time as a government servant. For much of that time, I resisted the idea. Perhaps out of concern for how those involved in the stories might feel, or because I believed it would be an unnecessary exposure of my daily work life. After all, these are real-life stories, and while they may seem comical or eccentric, they are, at their core, the reality for many people working in government.
What always astonishes me when I revisit these memories is how much more amusing real life can be than any fictional tale. The sheer unpredictability of it all is far more entertaining than anything a writer could invent.
So here I am, almost a decade after stepping away from the world of international diplomacy and government affairs, ready to share these stories with you. Time, I believe, has softened the edges of those often tense moments. It has allowed me—and the characters in these stories—to look back and laugh at ourselves, to find the humor in what was once a heavy burden. There’s a saying that goes, "If you can laugh at yourself, you're going to be fine. If you allow others to laugh with you, you’ll be great." This resonates deeply with me, and it is precisely the spirit behind the stories you will find here: the ability to laugh at life’s absurdities.
Of course, I will refrain from naming names or locations in order to protect the privacy of those involved. Many of them are still dear friends today, still out there, still working, and undoubtedly continuing to accumulate stories that are probably even more amusing than mine. The power of the drawers still exists, after all, and I suspect it continues to inspire situations just as peculiar on a daily basis.
I spent over fifteen years navigating a world full of bosses—both small and large, more than thirty international missions, countless endless meetings (you know the ones that seem to have no end), sleepless nights, hundreds of flights, and exhausting road trips by car and bus (I shudder to think of some of the more dreadful ones). There were confusions, dismissals, administrative problems, TV reports, and breaking news that we often knew about before it even hit the public. Sadly, not all of it was good news... but that’s life, right? It's not fiction, so there were certainly days of panic and genuine fear about what might happen next.
The emotions I feel when revisiting all of this are a mix of confusion and nostalgia. While the longing for those days sometimes brings tears, there’s also a sense of relief in no longer feeling the prelude to the agony that accompanied these stories. Perhaps the nostalgia is for the colleagues, the companions who were there through it all, and who—together—made it possible for us to laugh about these things today rather than cry. There's immense value in these friendships, which allow us to look back at all the struggles without bitterness. On the contrary, we can laugh and share the grace, the oddities, and the sheer absurdity of it all. It's a way to release the weight that those who take themselves too seriously impose on what are, at the end of the day, just the routines that make the world work—or not.
I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing and reminiscing about them.