Every year the company holds a service awards banquet and the employees who are celebrating any 5 year increment anniversary get a gift, plus a nice steak dinner for them and their spouse, followed by a DJ with dancing.
Donna and I went for our 5 year anniversary and have not gone back for the past three. The main reason is the building where they hold it allows smoking in the bar area where you have to go to get your alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. The bar is a separate room, but with all the traffic in and out for drinks, you might as well leave the door open. Another reason is the food, it is the usual fare for 150 people, fatty rib-eye steaks, baked potatoes in aluminum foil and a green over cooked vegetable. The HR department does a nice job with all the work that goes into something like this and a lot of people really enjoy the event, but it is just not our cup of tea.
The gifts are chosen from a catalog from a company that specializes in just that thing and is approved by the corporate office, everybody in Emerson chooses from the same catalog. The gifts increase in value as you advance through the 5-year increments. At five years I selected a wooden pen & pencil set, at 10 years I got a nice looking gold plated plastic wall clock (that is keeping perfect time in the garage) and for the life of me I don’t remember what I got at fifteen years. This year I was probably going to end up with anther forgettable gift as well, there were probably 2 dozen items to choose from, but like the event itself, there was nothing in there that was my cup of tea. Then I had an idea. Why not get the camcorder and give it to Donna’s brother and his wife. They have a new baby and it would be perfect for them to capture those precious moments.
When we visited them in May I asked them if they had a camcorder. To which I got the unexpected reply of, “Yes.” It was too late to change my gift choice, I was getting a camcorder. This year’s award banquet was last Saturday night, so Monday morning I got a letter of congratulations and a small box containing a JVC GR-D770. Great, now what am I going to do with this thing, I certainly have no need (or desire) for a camcorder. Giving it as a gift to a relative seemed OK, but somehow selling it on eBay seems ungrateful.
Whatever happens, I will remember my 20-year award unlike the forgotten fifteenth.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 303
The solution for your two most recent posts? http://WWW.Craigslist.org
…somehow since the sale is local and more often than not, face to face, it seems less “ungrateful” than E-bay…or you could just donate the camcorder to a local school or college that has a Filmmaking or Mass Media curriculum.
Columbus is a fair sized city. Here in small southern town the closest list is 30 miles away and the only thing for sale under electronics was a VHS camcorder. Probably a full sized one. Geez.