I'm Employee of the Month for March. Please don't congratulate me; it's more about who you smile at than what kind of job you do. My ace in the hole, as it were, is that I worked for so long at night---I was a weird mystery man. When I came to days, I enjoyed this week-long bout of near-celebrity status. It was during that time that the decision was taken. Right place, right time. Oh, and they needed another man on the list.
The problem seems to be that there are many people in the company who take this kind of thing VERY seriously. I was congratulated heartily by a few, but a few more had almost hateful comments, as if my work was invalid because no one was there to know whether I worked hard or not. Is it really that important? I guess I don't deserve it because I find it a bit of a joke and somewhat embarrassing.
I am reminded of a James Coburn movie, "The Iron Cross." Coburn plays this German corporal (former officer) whose commanding officer (a major, I think) wants to be awarded the Iron Cross, an award for bravery in the German Army. This Major is discussing his desire for the Cross with an older officer. The old man says, "You vant an Iron Cross, eh? Here...I'll geeve you one ov mine." The Major gets this look of disgust on his face, as if this old Wermarcht officer had taken the wind out of his one desire in life. It just wasn't that important to the old man.
Anyway, it's neither here nor there, really; it's just interesting to see how people react to something sooo trivial and, ultimately, meaningless.
Posted by Matthew at March 1, 2004 08:06 PMCongrats Matt! I must say that I feel much the same way you do about such nonsense; however, I sure wouldn't mind having that prime "employee of the month" parking spot just once!
Posted by: at March 2, 2004 11:43 AM