It was in November of 2015 that I first met Kyle. I had gone into our previous place of employment for a job interview. When he walked into the room to ask me some interview questions, he was quite the intimidating presence. With an impressive and massive beard, this man, dressed all in black, towering over me, sat down and asked me questions with the most stoic face. I somehow survived that interview, with my only game plan being to match his stoicism. When I started working at our previous place of employment, I had an impression that he would be a hard person to work under...I was immediately proven to be so incorrect. He immediately showed so much care for not only my training but to me as a person.
There was one instance where I had someone quit on me, and I decided to stay. Kyle could tell I was not too happy but wanted to show his appreciation for me. As I was stuck manning my department by myself, he walked up to me before leaving and asked me if he could buy and bring me dinner. I requested Thai food, he was more than willing to do that, but he asked me if there was anything else I needed. It is embarrassing to admit, but I am a cigarette smoker; I was all out of cigarettes, and I knew I would be pretty angry by the end of the shift. Knowing that may be a tall order, I gave him opportunities to say no. I was embarrassed. He looked at me and said, "It would be an honor. This will be the first time in my life I will ever buy cigarettes. I want to see how it feels." He followed through and came back with both Thai food and cigarettes for me. He was the most solid and friendly person I worked with who loved a good laugh and could see the comedy in chaos which brings me to my favorite memory.
To raise money for a fundraiser, our previous employer had a hot dog barbecue in the front parking lot. After the barbecue was over, I sat at my desk and then got up to stretch my legs. While I walked around the building, I looked out to the parking lot to see a billow of smoke coming from the dumpster. Kyle and a couple of our other colleagues were throwing buckets of water on it. Someone had taken the burning charcoal and put it in a bucket of water; when the bucket of water did not put it out, it started melting, which eventually led to someone putting it in the dumpster. After seeing the smoke, I went and grabbed the fire extinguisher (which I was surprised no one else had thought of) and put it out. Kyle stood by me, watching me putting it out, and the look on his face was that of pride. He thought the situation was hilarious. The only downside is I felt he was disappointed that he did not think to grab the extinguisher himself.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. I am sitting at my desk with my office door open, and I smell smoke coming from the back of the building. I open the backdoor to see a trashcan on fire with Kyle putting it out with an extinguisher. As I stand at the top of the stairs, he looked up at me, "You want in on this?" he said with a smile. I replied by nodding my head impishly yes. "Get down here!" he replied while waving his hand in a welcoming gesture.
Kyle was a wonderful man with who I intended to interact with for years. He was so excited to take me to a Colombian restaurant to have arepas (my father is from Colombian, so he was delighted to see my opinion of his favorite Colombian restaurant) before we went to Ari Shaffir's, Renamed Storyteller Show. Kyle loved a good laugh. As fun as the times were that we had, I will remember him for his humor and his love, advocacy, and support. He will always be the guy who gave me an old Smith Corona to fix up and sell because he knew I had an interest. You see, I never got around to selling the typewriter he gave me, and now, I never will. It is now what I will keep; commemorating Kyle's goodness.