When you work closely with people on high-pressure projects it’s natural to develop strong friendships. Throw in trips to hostile customer sites, massive boozing on expense accounts, and debauchery of all kinds and you’ll soon end up with an ‘us vs. the world’ attitude.

For nearly four years I worked in such an environment. It wasn’t a dot-com in the traditional sense, but it certainly had its share of dramatic ups-and-downs. We blasted through venture capital, bought more than we needed, and promised more than we could deliver.

With the good times came the bad. The extremely bad. It is no exaggeration to say that I personally witnessed rounds of layoffs numbering into the teens. Obviously, morale was not fantastic.

Most of us have new jobs and new friends, and the period of bitterness is long gone for those who felt betrayed. Despite all that, it’s safe to say I look back at those times as being special — If not for being spectacularly overpaid, then at least for the friendships.

Last Friday saw many of us gather for a reunion. What a trip it was to see everyone again… I realized that once you hit a certain age, personalities tend not to change. There were those trying to impress, the whiners, and the genuine straight shooters. Me? As usual, I was busy trying to get a drink from the bar.

The difficulty with a situation like this is that everything gets compared to ‘the way it was’. It’s like comparing a girl you meet to your first love. It’s similar, but it’ll never be the same.

So, for those bitter people I spoke to on Friday — remember the past, but don’t dwell on it. Being jaded and cynical is cool if you’re a poet, but it’s tiresome if you’re an out-of-work software developer. Besides, I’ve read seen your code, and you’re no artist.