Grab yer overcoat …
‘Cause hell is about to freeze over. I am going to pay a compliment to my former employer. (::breaking into song:: — “I felt the earth, move, under my feet. …”)
Our employer sent out an e-mail yesterday, inviting us to our “holiday party,” which will take place in mid-January (perhaps they did not want to pay the premium room rental rates that one would normally pay when hosting a holiday party, well, before the damn holiday). IKEA Boy and I will be in Manhattan, so shucks, darn, we won’t be there. Shan will also be in NYC, but she’ll be arriving near the time we’re leaving, so we won’t cross paths. (And IKEA Boy and I can’t afford to stay another night in the Big Apple.)
The purpose of today’s rant is to compliment HRP and the Two Strikes (dis)organization for putting together an absolutely lovely celebration last year. We received embossed invitations, complete with reply cards, at least three weeks in advance of the event (which was held before the holidays). We were able to invite a guest for free — the only thing we had to pay for was $1 for parking, a tip for the valet and the cash bar. That’s it. It took place at Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at The Priory, the latter of which is a bed-and-breakfast. The Grand Hall is a converted church, complete with a dais, and is home to many a wedding reception. It was darkened and beautifully decorated with greenery and white lights, for our purposes. It was romantic and ambient — truly a memorable evening for all.
Our Veggie Patch mixer (ha!) will take place at one of the local hotels here in Alexandria. Given the location of it, parking will NOT be free (because our free street parking ends after New Year’s), and it would be wiser to just put your car in a garage, anyway. Our meals are free (they seem decent — we got the menu yesterday — they’re actually not cheaping-out on us). It’s a buffet dinner, which seems kinda tacky, when Two Strikes gave us each an individual, four-course meal. But I digress. 🙂
However, here, we have to pay $35 if we want to bring a guest, which I find to be a bit tasteless, considering that we have approximately 50 employees. Plus, given that the median salary here is about $35K — not factoring in the associate executive attention hyperactive deficit disorder esquires — that’s a lot to ask us to pay. And on top of it, I’m there’s a coat check, cash bar, etc. And they say there are great door prizes, but one must be there in order to be eligible.
HRP had class when it came to gift-giving, I’ll tell ya. She gave each of her 130 employees (not just those who showed up) a fabulous jewelry box with gender-appropriate jewelry inside. She did, granted, leave the “Retail value: $265” sticker on every last one of them, but shit, if I’d spent that on each employee, god damn it if I didn’t want them to know that I didn’t buy them cheap stuff. I got her after the event and told her that next time she was going to buy jewelry in bulk, she should ask me to weasel at least a discount for us. (Yes, I am the eternal fundraiser/penny-pincher.)
However, like most employers, I know they expect us to be grateful for this, but I’m having a hard time when they’re being so stingy with raises and what not. In fact, I am slightly bitter because we’re hiring a new staff person for MIS in January (when raises were supposed to take effect for Shan and me), who will be earning more than our raises combined and times two. Granted, this kid has some sense and might just help the department to become more efficient, but I’m still allowed to be bitter. In fact, I can’t think of any other way that I could otherwise feel about the situation. 🙂
P. Demure left boxes of chocolates for IKEA Boy and me, which was nice ’cause they’re gourmet chocolates. However, when I opened mine up, every single one is smashed. Humph. An eerily accurate commentary on the way things are around here — you’d rather get nothin’ than get your hopes smashed in.
In bright news, my Alanis Morrissette “Feast on Scraps” CD and DVD arrived while I was out of the office yesterday. Now, one of these days, I’ve got to buy myself a DVD player. … 🙂