Employee of the Month, Bay-Beee!

Okay. Make a big fuss!

I was not having a good day. Hardware is verrry stressful. I went from being a mastercraftsman at the sanding table to not knowing what the hell I'm doing from one moment to the next, and doing plenty wrong, putting legs on upside down, my doors never line up...

And then there's the ankle thing to deal with. It's gotten to be just plain irritating at this point. And earlier today, I saw my reflection as I approached a glass door. Something about my slow, shambling gait was vaguely familiar. Then it hit me: there ought to be villagers carrying torches pursuing me.

But when we all punched out for lunch today, there was a sign posted on the timeclock: Meeting at 12:30. So we all gathered around the loading dock, and I eased myself down onto the floor (there's no place to sit on the loading dock after somebody climbs up onto the forklift). The president and her husband came out, and announced first off that in anticipation of our shut-down-for-maintenance week when I'll be in California, we're all being asked to work ten hour days--6 am to 4 pm--starting Monday. (Ugh.) And then she turned it over to her husband, the vice president, and he informed us that it was once again time to name an employee of the month. I looked around wondering who it would be. When I heard, 'although he's only been with us a short time, and had no previous experience with woodworking..." I pricked up.

No way.

My name was called.

No. Way.

Way.

Dutch is the new Employee of the Month.

And, my fellow employees were genuinely happy for me. Nightingale is the outgoing Employee of the Month. He told me he couldn't think of a better person to fill his shoes.

Oh. Man.

I'm pretty bowled over by this. Beyond the whole 'You like me! You really like me!" aspect of it, there's the fact that... well, let's face it, I'm a fag from New York City who didn't know until a few weeks ago that a two-by-four actually measures 1 5/8" by 3 5/8. Or something. Let's call it 'affirming.'

And it's great to have a job where it's generally thought that I'm good at what I do. Certainly makes a nice change from Senator Sunshine (g).

Wow.

Employee of the Month.

And there are goodies that go with that. For one thing, from now until July 21st, I get to park my jeep not in the employee lot, but out front of the showroom in the specially designated Employee of the Month parking spot. And, my name goes on the special Employee of the Month plague hung in the showroom. And, I have $220 worth of gift certificates--dinner at two local restaurants and $40 for the movies.

As soon as I got off work, I couldn't wait to call Big. In fact, when they made the announcement, one of my first thought's was that he was gonna be proud of his boy. By an amazing coincidence, just as I pulled up in front of Starbucks, my phone rang. It was Big. My Sir. So he was the first to get the news.

Employee of the Month.

Dang.

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