I had a buddy (I'll call him Alex) with whom I've worked with at several contracting gigs. Good guy, and has gotten me some pretty lucrative roles, but drama followed the guy wherever he went. I've worked with him on at least five short term contracts roles. Every single one he ghosted for one reason or another.

First one - We were both hired as FED's. It was at a large corporation. We got about a week in and he tells me was put on active duty (he was in the Army) and just ghosted. Never told the manager, myself, nobody. Manager starts pressing me because the recruiter can't get a hold of him. I tell the manager I don't have any contact info for him and told the manager he told me he got put back on active duty.

Second one - "Hey bud, we're together again at XYZ company!!" Was the email I got from him over LinkedIN. First day I ask the manager where he was as we were friends and worked together before. Manager says he has no idea where he is. Three days later, three more no calls/no shows. Disappears again. I can't get him on gmail chat, linkedin, nothing. Just gone again.

Third one - I recommended him to a hiring manager who was desperate for bodies. I wasn't happy, and told Alex this gig is a dumpster fire and not to take the gig. He didn't listen. Shows up the first day, gets his laptop, and is constantly at my desk, "Dude, why are they doing stuff this way? This is so stupid." Second day worked a half day and just left out the blue and that was it. Took his MacBook Pro with him and ghosted everybody again. I left a few weeks later so I'm not sure they ever got their laptop back.

Fourth one - He was already working at a cool gig and got me an interview and then I landed another FED role with him. The two projects they were banking on evaporated and got canceled. They started laying off people in droves. The area we sat in had maybe 25 contractors. Within a week, we were down to 12. After that first week, he figured he was next so he just stopped showing up, but he kept filling out his timesheet. Found out later they paid him for three weeks he never showed up for.

Last one - in 2013, we both were hired at this sweet startup. First month things are peachy. I figure maybe this is it, Alex finally got his shit together and he'll actually stick around. Nope. Second month, things started getting harder. Crunch time was coming around. Longer days, nose to the grindstone, all that. The following week Monday he's a NC/NS again. By Wednesday, I start hearing things. By Friday, in a 1:1 with my manager, he asks me if I can get a hold of Alex for him. I ask why. He tells me on Tuesday, he got a voicemail from Alex saying, "Loved working there, love you guys, but I'm fleeing the country, I'll mail my laptop back when I get to where I'm going." I just told the manager, "While that is pretty crazy, I'm not really surprised."

That was the last time I heard from until a recruiter called this year me asking about him because he was putting him in for an interview at one of the clients, a big Fortune 500 company. I honestly had no idea how to respond to the idea he could continue to be gainfully employed after all the shit he's pulled on multiple companies and multiple recruiters.