Our service awards came in yesterday and were delivered with the least amount of fanfare possible. I got a certificate that was signed with a jpg of the president’s signature and a “box of stuff”. This included a keychain – which was too bulky to use but very shiny. There was a business card case – which was not as nice as the circuit board version that I also don’t use – but was very shiny. A money clip that I’m pretty sure I’m not wealthy or arrogant enough to actually use, but very shiny. And a pen set that’s too nice to carry around and risk losing, but very shiny.
So, several very shiny things that I won’t use and a certificate that I’m going to file in a drawer somewhere. Still better than the paperweight I got at 10 years, but somewhat pointless. I guess I was hoping for a more personal touch – a human acknowledgement of my value. A handshake and a thank-you would have been far better than a form letter and what amounted to a “form gift”.
These “small gifts” – as they were described in the invitation to the service awards event – came in at a somewhat ironic time. I was deeply hating my job yesterday. Just so burned out this week, fighting broken systems and one admin task after another. I just wanted to get back to being a creative geek, but I don’t see that in my immediate future. I was too cranky to even swim yesterday – just went home and played video games and ate junk food until I felt better – which was right around the time I went to bed.
I’m in a better mood today, sort of. My meeting got canceled today, I remembered to set out my garbage last night (which is pretty big deal for me), I beat my star wars game, and my dad has offered to buy me some gardening tools. Kind of weird mix of good things, but I’ll take them. So, back to the grind and saving the day. Maybe I’ll do some gardening after my swim – a little sunshine will do me good.