Meine Nase Ist Braun
2006-05-11, 16:16

Brownie points! Gotta love 'em, especially in the employment-unfriendly month of May.

A couple of months ago, I got a little loan from the company I work for, mainly to help recover from this winter's artificially inflated gas bills, until our tax returns came back. We were in a serious lurch there for a bit and were worried about what to do, and one of my options was to see about a raise. Mind you, something like asking for a raise is akin to a monumental task for me, because I'd need to ask for something from my employment superiors; not a situation a socially inept doofus like me wishes for. But our options were dwindling, so, with a severe knot in my stomach and after a few failed trips to the VP's door, I went in and asked about it. Suffice to say, I didn't get a raise.

But not because they thought I was undeserving. It's just that they do their reviews around the end of the fiscal year (October), and, because of when I was hired, I just hadn't gotten a review yet (other than my original 90-day). They did, however, have a policy of helping those in need with no-interest loans. So after a short bit of deliberation with the President of the company (a.k.a. her mom) - which amounted to "Is that okay?" "Sure!" - I had a check put in my hand. How cool is that, a company digging into their coffers to bail out an employee, no strings (other than paying it back, obviously) attached? Too cool, I say. Too cool.

So we got our tax returns back, and a couple of months later I'm paying back the balance of what we owe. In appreciation, yesterday I sent the two of them (the Pres and VP) a thank-you email, saying that "we are eternally grateful for your help," and that "I consider myself very lucky to have found a place to work that takes care of its employees so well." Both of which are true, actually. So the VP wobbles into my office (she's well pregnant with her 2nd) this morning and says how nice the email was and that she appreciated it. Then she made sure I knew that there were bagels available in Customer Service. Score! I could feel my nose turning brown. As life progresses, I'm learning that sometimes it's the little things that go farther in the long run.

This weekend, H is taking The Boy camping, and The Girl is going to her dad's as usual, so it's going to be just me and the cutest toddler on earth for the night, and a goodly chunk of Saturday. Yay! Not only do I get to play with the baby all day one-on-one, but get to be up late Friday, just me and the game console! Maybe I'll crack open an RPG that I've neglected or not even started yet. You know, I never did finish those Neverwinter Nights expansions...

-- End Transmission --